Elizabeth Warren has long been the bane of the banking industry with her calls for more consumer protections. Now the Massachusetts senator is poised to be the leading voice of her party on financial issues if the election results in a reshuffling that would make her the top Democrat on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
Warren would step up if Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the current chairman of the committee, were to lose his race in what is a tight election against Republican Bernie Moreno, the former owner of a car dealer empire.
Another corporate antagonist, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), is also positioned to be the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee if Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) loses in November to former government contractor Tim Sheehy (R) in a race regarded as one of the best chances for a Republican pick-up.
The election could also result in a number of other changes that reflect the growing populist sentiment in both parties. Even if Democrats lose control of the Senate, they will still wield considerable authority to shape and block legislation thanks to the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation.
Changes in chief negotiators on committees of jurisdiction next year could also affect debate over possible extension of the Trump-era tax code overhaul and confirmation of the next president’s advisers.
Of all the potential shifts, Warren’s potential ascension to the top Democratic spot is likely to strike the most fear in the banking industry. She was the top driver for the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law that provides more oversight of financial industries including mortgages, credit cards and student loans.
“You’re going have a lot more scrutiny over private-sector companies,” said Nick Xenakis, a former Senate staffer and attorney in Covington & Burling LLP’s public policy practice. If Warren chaired the panel, companies and their Washington advisers are “really going to need to reevaluate” how they engage with those panels, he said.
Brown and Warren share a similarly progressive track record. Both pressured the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates to reduce borrowing costs for consumers and accused companies of price gouging to explain the surge in inflation since the onset of the Covid pandemic.
But lobbyists aligned with both parties anticipate Warren would be more focused on pressuring government institutions and companies by investigation rather than legislation.
Warren in the last two weeks alone has praised stricter reviews of bank deals like Capital One Financial Corp.'s pending acquisition of Discover Financial Services, blasted a Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association lawsuit over a rewrite of decades-old anti-redlining rules, and
“She’s been one of the more prolific senators without a chairmanship regarding congressional oversight and inquiries,” said Hogan Lovells partner Aaron Cutler, a lobbyist for the financial sector. As ranking member on a full committee, Cutler said he would expect “a lot more activity there from her.”
Warren would also have to navigate a split between her and other Democrats on cryptocurrencies. Warren’s a vocal advocate for stringent regulation of the nascent industry. She broke with senior members of her party by opposing a measure that would have nixed a Securities and Exchange Commission bulletin requiring public companies to include digital assets they hold for clients on their balance sheets (
“She’s going to be in an isolated position,” said Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association that advocates for the crypto industry.
Warren declined to comment on what she’d prioritize in that role if she got the opportunity to lead Democrats on the panel. “That’s a hypothetical I’m not walking near,” Warren said earlier this month.
Blumenthal on Veterans
Democrats on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee may be led by Blumenthal, who is the most senior Democrat on the panel who doesn’t already have the gavel of a full committee.
He already chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which he may opt to keep instead of being the top Democrat on a full committee.
Blumenthal got his start in politics as Connecticut’s attorney general, where he built a national brand battling deceptive marketing by tobacco companies and securing protections for children online.
He frequently calls out companies with services or products that pose potential or actual safety hazards and as a Senate subcommittee chair has targeted social media companies and US consultants to the Saudi Arabian wealth fund behind LIV Golf’s merger with PGA Tour.
Blumenthal has exhibited a “deepening frustration” about the VA’s “lack of progress” in tackling the epidemic of veterans suicide and will keep up that “aggressive oversight,” said Justin Brown, a lobbyist on veterans health issues and former top staffer on the House subcommittees of jurisdiction.
“He’ll do the hard work of trying to make sure VA’s held accountable,” Brown said.
The retired Marine Corps reservist would “continue the bipartisan work to expand benefits and care for the invisible as well as physical wounds of war by improving VA health care and the efficiency of benefits delivery,” Blumenthal said in an interview earlier this month. “Obviously, we’ve got a funding gap to close in the immediate future, but there are long range possibilities for telemedicine.”
Republican Shuffles
Republicans also may engage in some committee shuffles after the election. Even if Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) beats back a challenge from Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) and wins a third term, he could still lose out on the chance to chair the Commerce Committee where he is currently ranking member.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) outranks Cruz but cannot under conference rules be the top Republican on a standing committee while serving as either whip or leader.
Should Thune lose his bid as successor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Thune would be termed out as whip and could take over the top spot at the Commerce Committee.
If Cruz loses his re-election bid and Thune becomes leader, Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) would give up her position as the lead Republican on the Rules Committee to take the Commerce gavel.
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story: