Topic: Mary Jo White

President Obama nominated Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Richard Cordray for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. During the announcement, Obama was visibly distracted by a fly. The speech included unusual references to White being a fan of the "Hardy Boys" novels as a child.

Despite her 1990s reputation for prosecuting John Gotti, Mary Jo White spent the last decade as a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, representing major financial institutions like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. Critics, including Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi, argue that her career has focused on protecting Wall Street CEOs from prosecution, making her a controversial choice for the SEC.