The chief House Republican overseeing the banking industry is trying to tack on nearly thirty additional bills to the deregulatory package that just passed the Senate with the help of centrist Democrats.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) on Wednesday applauded the upper chamber’s approval of legislation paring back the framework enacted in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Act. Parts of the proposal will relax rules on some of the country’s largest banks.
“I look forward to combining them with our helpful House bipartisan banking bills and getting that combined bill to the President’s desk,” said Hensarling, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee.
On Wednesday, the Senate passed the legislation weakening post-crisis rules in a 67-31 vote. Seventeen members of the Democratic Caucus supported the bill.
Spearheaded by Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Senate Banking Committee Chair, the legislation would raise the threshold for enhanced supervision—to $250 billion assets from $50 billion assets.
The legislation could also enable lawsuits against the Federal Reserve from the four largest banks in the country—JP Morgan, Well Fargo, Bank of America, and Citibank–if Dodd-Frank enhanced supervision isn’t tailored to their liking.
It would additionally end reporting requirements that help regulators enforce laws against discrimination in lending. Provisions tacked on last week would also stop lawsuits against credit reporting agencies like Equifax—a company that presided over a hack last year that victimized 148 million Americans.
Supporters say the credit reporting litigation provision only applies to class action lawsuits, and to servicemembers receiving free services under the legislation, according to Politico. Credit reporting agencies exist, however, by harvesting sensitive information about consumers without their consent, as last year’s Equifax breach shed light on.
Now that the Senate has passed its Dodd-Frank revisions, Hensarling is pushing for the legislation to go to conference committee—a panel featuring members from both houses.
As Roll Call noted, the House committee leader “has been making noises about adding as many as 29 banking, financial services and securities measures that his committee has approved with at least some Democratic support.”
Since the 115th Congress started last year, the House of Representatives has passed 62 bills that have been marked up by Hensarling’s committee.
One of those proposals, the CHOICE Act, would eliminate even wider swaths of Dodd-Frank than the Senate bill. Its provisions include language that would strip independence and power from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Some supporters of the Senate bill—particularly Democrats–are hoping that Hensarling will keep his hands off the legislation that cleared the upper chamber.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), when asked by Politico about Hensarling’s plans.“If he adds a bunch of crazy shit, it’s going to die. That’s just the way it is.”
