House Votes to Overhaul Dodd-Frank, Now Senate’s Turn to Review

On June 8th, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 233-186 to advance the Financial CHOICE Act to the Senate and continue the long process toward major revisions to the Dodd-Frank Act, a banking reform and consumer protection law passed by a bipartisan Congress shortly after the financial crisis of 2008. The vote was almost entirely upon party lines: all but one Republican voted in favor of the bill, with all Democrats voting against it. The full House vote closely mirrored the final Financial Services Committee vote last month, where it passed 32-24 also along party lines.

The Financial CHOICE Act will now shift to the upper chamber of Congress, where the Senate Banking Committee has already begun its review of the bill. Although a simple majority was required to advance the bill in the House, the significant changes to Dodd-Frank proposed by the Financial CHOICE Act will almost certainly demand a 60-vote majority in the Senate. Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee have vowed to defend the provisions of Dodd-Frank and resist the categorical changes housed in the CHOICE Act.