Senate Banking Committee

The Senate Banking Committee passed a housing package that includes funding for manufactured and other kinds of housing, but also includes an appraisal provision that mortgage bankers oppose.

All five of the Biden administration's nominees received enough votes to secure passage to the Senate floor. Chair Sherrod Brown of Ohio called the moment "historic."

The Senate Banking Committee will hold separate hearings next week for Jerome Powell on his nomination to a second term as Federal Reserve chair and for Lael Brainard’s elevation to vice chair.

Criticism from banking and other business groups of Saule Omarova’s candidacy could make it difficult for moderate Democrats to support President Biden's pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Infrastructure will command most of lawmakers’ attention, but expect banks to keep pushing for bills that would ease the transition away from a key benchmark rate and help them serve legal cannabis businesses.

Democratic proposals to offer free accounts, restrict overdraft fees and cap interest rates have zero chance of passage. But analysts say lawmakers’ push for products that help consumers is influencing some banks’ decisions to institute reforms on their own.

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over reg relief policies instituted by the central bank, signaling that some progressive lawmakers may be reluctant to give him a second term.

Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the Banking Committee's top Republican, is talking up the prospects of a bipartisan deal to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Democratic leaders sound less motivated to change the status quo for the government-sponsored enterprises.

Critics say the regulation issued by the Office of the Comptroller Currency is a gift to predatory lenders. But the trade organizations warned lawmakers that invalidating it will make it difficult for the agency to create an improved framework in the future.

The full Senate could deadlock on Rohit Chopra’s nomination as the Banking Committee did. If that happens, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to cast the decisive vote in his favor.

With a steady stream of Senate hearings held on the racial wealth gap and inequities in the financial system, the new chairman has set a consumer-focused agenda that leans further left than even past Democratic chairs.

The nomination of Gary Gensler as chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission will now be voted on by the full Senate, but Rohit Chopra's nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remains held up in the Senate Banking Committee.

The Banking Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on March 2 for Rohit Chopra and Gary Gensler. They are the administration's picks, respectively, to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Legislation favorable to the industry would be unlikely to pass in a divided Congress, but the biggest benefit for banks and credit unions of Republicans' retaining control of the chamber would be defending against the disruption of a Democratic blue wave.

The Senate Banking Committee met Wednesday to review central bank lending facilities such as the Main Street Lending Program, which provides bank-issued loans to middle-market firms. But some lawmakers on the panel said the focus of pandemic relief has been misplaced.

The panel later this month will vote on the nomination of Judy Shelton, whose views on certain policy issues have met with skepticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

The Fed chairman updated senators about the agency's new credit facility for midsize firms struggling in the pandemic. He also left open the possibility of additional stress tests to gauge the industry’s coronavirus response.

Some lawmakers fear that when forbearance plans and enhanced unemployment coverage expire, the consequences for mortgage borrowers still affected by the pandemic will be severe.

The Senate Banking Committee chair will work with the heads of other panels in overseeing the $2 trillion stimulus package that Congress passed last month.

The head of the Senate panel overseeing Federal Reserve and Treasury Department efforts to boost the U.S. economy urged the agencies to remember their disclosure requirements.