Lawmakers postponed plans to advance a bill that could curb the influence of Wall Street regulators, a move that came as some federal officials mounted opposition to the effort.
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs decided Wednesday to punt the vote until after the November election, according to people briefed on the matter. One person explained that the committee needed additional time to set the agenda for the meeting.
The committee had preliminarily planned to meet on Sept. 20, although it did not officially announce the timing.
On Monday, DealBook reported that the bill was gaining momentum on Capitol Hill even as regulators were resisting the effort. Regulators, whose cause is backed by advocacy groups like Public Citizen, say the legislation would constrain their ability to police Wall Street.
The bill, which comes as regulators carry out an overhaul of the financial industry, would allow the White House to influ ence the rule-writing process at independent agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It would exempt the Federal Reserve.
Under the legislation, the president could use an executive order to empower the White House to second-guess major rules and mandate that agencies carefully study the economic effects of new regulation. The change could, in effect, delay a number of rules for Wall Street by several months.
The authors of the Senate bill - Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio; Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia- say they are not trying to halt regulation or provide the president unchecked power of independent agencies. Some legal experts also argue that the president already has authority to impose demands on the agencies, which operate independently of the presidential cabinet.
But regulators and government watchdog groups are skeptical.
“Those who support preserving the status quo where Wall Street regulates itself will find much to like in this legislation,†said Amit Narang, a regulatory policy advocate at Public Citizen, a nonprofit government watchdog group.
