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Upon returning from Hawaii this week, President Obama will confront a growing firestorm around a key Treasury nominee, with senators across the ideological spectrum seemingly ready to do battle with the White House in one of the first political fights of 2015.

The confirmation of Antonio Weiss tapped by Mr. Obama to serve as Treasurys undersecretary for domestic finance is in doubt, as liberals such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, have taken direct aim at the former investment bankers close ties to Wall Street.

The uproar highlights how some on the left, led by Mrs. Warren and also powerful progressive organizations outside Capitol Hill, now feel more emboldened to take on both the administration and so-called Wall Street Democrats.

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They argue the administration must move to the left, particularly on financial matters, and needs to break associations the Democratic Party has with powerful banks and other financial institutions. Mrs. Warren has, for example, made the case that the federal government should pursue harsher regulations on Wall Street and should seek to break up large banks.

The overrepresentation of Wall Street banks in senior government positions sends a bad message. It tells people that one and only one point of view will dominate economic policymaking, Mrs. Warren wrote in the Huffington Post late last year after the White House put forward Mr. Weiss.

It tells people that whatever goes wrong in this economy, the Wall Street banks will be protected first, she continued. Thats yet another advantage that Wall Street just doesnt need.

In recent weeks a number of other Democrats have voiced similar criticism, including Sens. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Al Franken of Minnesota and even Joe Manchin III of West Virginia.

It is important to send the message that we will no longer allow Wall Street to exclusively make our fiscal policy decisions, especially when they affect so many on Main Street, Mr. Manchin, one of the Democratic caucus more conservative members, said on the Senate floor last month.

Mrs. Warren, Mr. Manchin and other opponents have been joined by groups such as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee which has rallied liberals to oppose Mr. Weiss nomination and organizations such as the Independent Community Bankers of America, which argues the nominee would be yet another Wall Street voice in the federal government.

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Elizabeth Warren, liberals pick fight with Obama over Treasury nominee Antonio Weiss