Six financial regulators are challenging the logic of a Senate bill (S. 3468) that would empower the President to direct their agencies (among others) to submit all proposed rules to the White House Office of Management and Budget for prior review.
The bill, known as the Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act, was introduced by Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) with the backing of Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Ohio). The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is considering the measure for possible markup later this month. In a letter to Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Ranking Member Collins, the regulators warn that S. 3468 would “give any President unprecedented authority to influence the policy and functions of independent regulatory agencies and would constitute a fundamental change in the role of independent regulatory agencies.”
The letter carries the signatures of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Acting Chairman Martin Gruenberg, and National Credit Union Administration Chairman Debbie Matz.