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From Credit Union Times
The two House members who are expected to lead the House Financial Services Committee are preparing for battle.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is expected to chair the committee and Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is all but certain to be the ranking Republican.
As a result of capturing control of the House on Election Day, Democrats will chair all House committees. Waters currently is ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee.
And if their early comments are any indication, Waters and McHenry appear headed for conflicts early and often.
“During the past six years, I have been at the front lines of pushing back against a rigid Republican ideology set on rolling back Wall Street reform and pursuing an anti-consumer, anti-investor, and anti-low and moderate-income family agenda,” Waters wrote in a letter appealing to House Democrats to choose her as chairman.
But in a statement announcing his candidacy for the ranking member position, McHenry said he is ready to fight against Democratic efforts.
“My eyes are wide open to the goals of the new Democrat majority,” he said. “I am fully prepared to fight back against any efforts by Democrats to use this committee to roll back our successes from the last two years or use the committee as the launch pad for endless, partisan investigations.”
In her letter to colleagues, Waters pledged to protect the CFPB and highlighted her record on regulatory relief for small financial institutions and credit unions. Committee.
“At its core, the Committee on Financial Services is about creating opportunities, ensuring fairness, and protecting the economic well-being of all Americans,” Waters said in the letter, sent late last week. “These are values that I intend to fight for as Chairwoman.”
The Waters letter to colleagues was first reported by Bloomberg and the Los Angeles Times.
“Democrats are concerned about preserving community financial institutions,” she said, in the letter.
She cited her bill in the 114th Congress that would have allowed financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets with relief from the CFPB’s Qualified Mortgage rule as long as they did not sell or securitize the loans. It also would have streamlined privacy notifications and tailor exam cycles for smaller financial institutions.
While that bill did not pass, several provisions of the legislation became law because they were included in other legislation.
Waters promised that as chair, she would provide strict oversight over the CFPB, adding that under Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, the agency has been weakened.
Waters also promised that under her leadership, the Financial Services Committee will act to hold Equifax responsible for its data breach and Wells Fargo responsible for its myriad problems. “No one is above the law and financial institutions that engage in criminal behavior should be held accountable,” she wrote.
“It became clear that Republicans would not hold Wells Fargo, or any big bank, accountable for its conduct,” she said, in the letter.
She also pledged increase oversight of Deutsche Bank and of Trump family finances.
During the current Congress, Financial Services Committee Democrats have attempted to amend various bill to require the Trump family to disclose financial information. Those efforts failed.
Waters and McHenry received significant support from credit union trade groups during this past election cycle, according to records complied by the Center for Responsive Politics.
CUNA’s committee contributed $10,000 to Waters and $7, 500 to McHenry, while NAFCU’s committee contributed $10,000 to McHenry and $7,500 to Waters.