The 114th Congress started banking work with a bang when Chairman Hensarling’s efforts to advance a series of previously bipartisan bills blew up. As we anticipated last year, Democrats have quickly moved to the left in their new role as the minority party in both the House and Senate. This comes partly from the election (See Client Reports ELECTION19), but also from the tantrum thrown after the House included the Lincoln push-out reversal in the end-of-session continuing resolution. Confident that a once-bipartisan bill would stay bipartisan, the House brought the Hensarling measure up on the suspension calendar, which requires 66 percent for passage; Democrats balked, and the bill got just 65.4 percent in favor. To be sure, both the House and Senate passed the TRIA extension with one Dodd-Frank change still in it despite a fervent effort by Sen. Warren (D-MA) to derail it yet again. However, the message from the House floor is clear: Anything that can be characterized as pro-Wall Street will have a hard slog past all the procedural hurdles Democrats can still raise before the President’s veto pen is wielded on their behalf.
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