WASHINGTON—Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo is a rare dealmaker who has negotiated across the Capitol’s partisan divide. Texas GOP Rep. Jeb Hensarling’s record has been defined more by trying to cut government than cutting deals with Democrats.
The fate and shape of the sweeping financial deregulation promised by President-electDonald Trump—and eagerly anticipated by investors pushing up bank stocks—hangs on these two lawmakers, the point men in their respective chambers on financial policy. Mr. Crapo needs to win over enough pro-regulation Democrats to steer a bill through the closely divided Senate, without losing House Republicans, led by Mr. Hensarling, hungry for a wholesale rollback of postcrisis rules they believe stifle the economy.
The two conservatives share a desire to attack the landmark 2010 law named for their liberal Democratic predecessors, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Massachusetts Rep.Barney Frank. But they may not agree on the means to do it, or just how far to go.
The big challenge for both men in 2017 will be how they handle Dodd-Frank. Mr. Hensarling earlier this year proposed a bill that would scrap major parts of the law. It passed his committee without any Democratic support.
Mr. Crapo has worked on Dodd-Frank changes as well, and last year he joined a bipartisan group of eight lawmakers who agreed on more modest changes. The informal deal included giving small and regional banks relief from some of the law’s regulatory obligations.
That deal could form the basis of a new law altering Dodd-Frank—if Mr. Crapo can keep both Senate Democrats and Mr. Hensarling on board.
Read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/two-republicans-look-to-write-the-next-dodd-frank-1482164782?
