Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said the Senate’s failure to confirm Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “makes no sense” and will leave middle-income Americas without protection from “unscrupulous” lenders.

“There is no reason why Mr. Cordray should not be nominated and should not be confirmed by the Senate,” Obama said at the White House, less than an hour after Republicans in the Senate blocked a motion to end debate on the nomination. He vowed to keep pushing for confirmation.

“We’re not giving up on this,” he said.

The motion to end debate on the nomination failed with a vote of 53 in favor and 45 opposed. Sixty votes were needed to proceed.

Obama also pressed Congress to pass an extension of the temporary payroll tax cut before leaving for the holidays.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at kandersen7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net