Elizabeth Warren Nabs Seat on Senate Banking Committee

Depending on your point of view, a report today that newly-elected Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) will get a seat on the Senate Banking Committee is either good news or bad news. Warren has consistently waged a battle against big banks and other financial institutions, siding instead with small investors and consumer.

The report at the Huffington Post cites “four sources familiar with the situation.” As a member of the banking committee, Warren will have a measure of influence over the financial industry regulators and the industry itself that is greater than many in the industry would like.

She has said that her first order of business after she takes office will be at attempt to revise the current filibuster rules to eliminate the need for a majority of 60 votes to get proposed legislation through the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that he may require only a simple majority vote to limit filibusters on the first day of the new session, not the two-thirds vote currently required under Senate rules. The finance industry can hope that the effort to change the filibuster rules takes a long time.

Paul Ausick