President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle Dodd-Frank, but a full repeal needs 60 votes in the Senate. Republicans will only have 51 seats when the 115th Congress convenes in January. Instead, Trump might be forced to settle for weakening the law without tearing it up.
Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary said Wednesday that he would focus on rolling back parts of Dodd-Frank. “The number one problem with Dodd-Frank is that it’s way too complicated and cuts back lending,” banker Steven Mnuchin told CNBC in his first public comments since being tapped by the president-elect to head his economic team.
“So we want to strip back parts of Dodd-Frank and that will be the number one priority on the regulatory side.”
Well, there are two premises here that may not be correct. It is almost certain that a Republican will win the Louisiana Senate Runoff, so that will give the Republicans 52 seats.
The need for a “super majority” of 60 votes is a result of the Senate filibuster rules, which the Senate MAY be able to change by a majority vote. If the Senate should decide to o this, it is likely that the Democrats will take their case to the Supreme Court, seeking a ruling that a super majority is necessary to change the filibuster rules.
The other two alternatives for the Republicans are (1) make elimination of the CFPB a part of the budgetary process; budgetary votes need only a simple majority, or (2) eliminate funding for enforcement of Dodd Frank, with no salaries there would be no one to enforce any of the laws or admin rulings.
The process is often difficult because different parties control the executive and legislative branches, or one party controls the Senate and the other the House. With the Republicans controlling all Federal branches (except perhaps the Supreme Court) and most state legislatures, “work arounds” can be found to effect the desired change.