House sends bill loosening banking regulations to Trump's desk

[Ulquiorra]

President Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to "do a big number" on the Dodd-Frank Act.

And now a Republican bill that offers the most sweeping changes to rules crafted following the 2008 financial crisis is now headed to his desk for his signature.

In a final step on Tuesday, the House voted 258-159 in favor of a bipartisan Senate-crafted bill aimed at loosening regulations for thousands of community banks and regional lenders, including State Street, BB&T and SunTrust.

Its passage marks the end of years of lobbying by the financial industry to soften post-crisis rules and tense negotiations in Congress to win bipartisan support for the bill.

Democrats who supported the bill crafted by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, have drawn backlash from more progressive members of the party, who argue that a regulatory rollback would make the financial system more vulnerable to another crisis.

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who opposed the bill, wrote on Twitter after it passed the Senate in March that "bankers are popping champagne."

Ahead of the House vote, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, urged their colleagues not to the vote in favor of the bill.

"We must not allow the GOP Congress to drag us back to the same oversight that ignited the Great Recession," they wrote to Democratic colleagues this week.

House GOP leaders agreed earlier this month to proceed with a vote after striking a deal with the Senate counterparts. In exchange for bringing it to the floor for a House vote, Senate leaders would press ahead with a companion package of bills supported by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican.

Hensarling wanted to add a number of measures to the Senate bill. One would ease disclosure requirements for banks on mortgage loans. Another would allow more companies to file confidential IPOs without divulging all their sensitive financial information right away.

But any changes in the House would send the bill back to the Senate. And moderate Senate Democrats, whose support was critical in advancing the banking bill, have said they won't vote on the bill twice.