By Pete Schroeder
4 min read
By Pete Schroeder
WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Democratic progressive and one-time presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has long been a vocal Wall Street critic, but next year the US senator from Massachusetts will likely have more power over the industry than ever before.
As the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, Warren is widely expected to become its chair when Democrats take over Congress in January, handing her more staff and the power to issue subpoenas, demand testimony and advance legislation.
That could mean more scrutiny for big banks, consumer lenders, private equity firms and crypto companies, which she has long accused of fleecing consumers and which are already preparing to be in her crosshairs.
“You’re going to see a lot of investigations,” said Brian Gardner, chief Washington policy strategist at Stifel.
Warren will likely probe the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s August decision to approve a bank charter for President Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial, said one person familiar with her thinking. She is also likely to investigate the administration’s mass firings of financial agency workers and its attempts to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency she helped create, the person said.
BIPARTISAN AFFORDABILITY FOCUS
Although Warren built her political brand as a leading member of the Democratic Party’s left flank, she will pursue policies that have bipartisan momentum, especially affordability issues, said a second person with knowledge of her thinking.
Warren this year helped steer passage of bipartisan housing affordability legislation and could build on that, the person said. Another area where she has worked with Republicans is artificial intelligence-linked export controls. Warren this year co-sponsored bills with Republicans to place restrictions on shipping advanced chips and other technology overseas.
“I’m ready to team up with any Republican who is listening to the American people,” Warren wrote in a Thursday opinion piece in Time magazine on Senate Democrats’ priorities. Those should include probing the administration’s corporate business dealings, she added.
“Big Tech CEOs, Wall Street executives, and giant corporations should prepare to answer tough questions,” she wrote.
ADMINISTRATION PUSHES BACK
Spokespeople for the OCC and World Liberty did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The administration has argued that the CFPB has made life more costly for Americans by overregulating consumer lenders, and that former Democratic leaders used the agency to attack political enemies and disfavored industries.
