Congress

Senate Votes To Consider Easing Dodd-Frank Banking Regulations

The Dodd-Frank Act was meant to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis, but some senators seem ready to ease up on banks.

Senate Votes To Consider Easing Dodd-Frank Banking Regulations
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 The Senate has taken a major step toward decreasing regulations for the banking industry.

Senators voted 67-32 to debate relaxing rules implemented in 2010 by former President Barack Obama, commonly known as Dodd-Frank. The rules were created to help prevent another financial crisis like the one in 2008.

The proposed Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act would, in part, ease regulations on banks that have less than $250 billion in assets, like Fifth Third and Suntrust Bank. That's $200 billion more than the current standard.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the bill would "bring relief to the small financial institutions." And, perhaps surprisingly, 17 Democratic senators voted to bring it to the floor.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wasn't one of them. She said Congress had forgotten the "devastating impact of the financial crisis 10 years ago, but the American people have not forgotten. ... The millions of people who lost their homes; the millions of people who lost their jobs; the millions of people who lost their savings."