On July 17, 2011, Cordray was selected over Warren as the head of the entire CFPB, but his nomination was immediately in jeopardy because 44 Senate Republicans had previously vowed to derail any nominee in order to push for a decentralized structure to the organization. This was part of a pattern of conflict between Republicans in the Senate and the Obama administration that had led to record numbers of blocked and failed nominations. On July 21, 2011, Senator Richard Shelby wrote an op-ed article for "The Wall Street Journal" affirming continued opposition (that went back to a May 5 letter to the President) to a centralized structure, noting that both the Securities Exchange Commission and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had executive boards and that the CFPB should be no different. "Politico" interpreted Shelby's statements as saying that Cordray's nomination was "Dead on Arrival". In October, as the nomination remained on hold, the National Association of Attorneys General endorsed Cordray. On December 8, 2011, the Senate failed to secure cloture on Cordray's nomination. The final vote was 53-45, with 50 out of 51 Democrats voting for cloture, and 45 out of 47 Republicans voting against.