Week ahead: Dodd-Frank turns five

GOP lawmakers are putting the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law under the microscope as the regulatory overhaul turns five years old.

Republicans say the law burdened the financial industry with costly regulations while slowing economic growth. Democrats, though, have hailed it as largely a success, and resisted GOP efforts to roll back provisions.

On Wednesday, a subpanel of the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The Securities, Insurance and Investment subcommittee will examine how regulators determine which financial firms should be subject to tougher oversight and restrictions under Dodd-Frank.

{mosads}On Thursday, the full Senate Banking Committee will also look into the issue at a hearing.

Across Capitol Hill, the House Financial Services Committee is also looking closely at Dodd-Frank. Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) is holding a hearing on “Ending ‘Too Big to Fail.’ “

But the anniversary won’t be marked only by criticism. On Monday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will speak at an event hosted by Better Markets, a group that backs the Wall Street reform law. The event will feature a discussion with the law’s namesakes, former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Elsewhere, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts will hold a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the recent Supreme Court rulings on ObamaCare and same-sex marriage, which subcommittee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) derides as “judicial activism.”

The hearing is titled, “Prejudice: Supreme Court Activism and Possible Solutions.”

Cruz, a 2016 presidential hopeful, has been an outspoken opponent of the recent rulings. He’s called the justices “elites” and “a threat to our democracy,” and vowed to keep his opposition to gay marriage “front and center” during his campaign.

Also, the House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Thursday to, in the panel’s words, “examine the dangerous policies adopted by some state and local governments that refuse to honor the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration laws.”

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