US financial deregulation bill will snag in Senate

Significance

Although the most recent failure of the Republican push to repeal Obamacare in the Senate has had a higher profile, the Financial Choice Act faces stronger odds against passage; it would substantially deregulate the financial sector and pare back the independence of the Federal Reserve Bank to set monetary policy. The act also would dilute the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a regulator created in response to the mis-selling of subprime mortgages that contributed the 2007-09 recession.

Impacts

• Democrats will contrast the White House’s populist claims with the retrenchment of consumer protections.
• Wary Senate Republicans are unlikely to follow through on Trump’s calls to eliminate the legislative filibuster.
• The Trump administration will use administrative obstruction and non-enforcement in the face of legislative inertia.