Progressive Democrats are pushing back hard on efforts to roll back Dodd Frank legislation and derail the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.
Senators Bill Nelson, Jack Reed, Elizabeth Warren, and Jeff Merkley took to the Senate floor Wednesday denouncing the current riders attached to the omnibus spending legislation that will rollback regulations implemented under Dodd Frank, as well as hamper the Labor Department’s efforts.
“It’s a pretty neat trick," Warren said. "The lobbyists know they probably can’t get a rollback of financial regulations passed out in the open where the American people can actually see what’s happening. So instead they tack rollicks on must-pass legislation. It’s cynical and it’s corrupt.”
Warren argued that the Dodd-Frank related riders would diminish the authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and restrict funding on the Labor Department’s fiduciary rulemaking. She said the rollbacks "would allow financial advisors to continue to line their own pockets while robbing retirees of billions of dollars."
Additionally, advocates began a petition on CREDO that urges members of Congress to oppose the riders. “We need to make it absolutely clear that no member of Congress – and certainly no Democrat – should use must-pass legislation to do Wall Street’s bidding,” the petition reads.
“The Wall Street holiday wish list includes attacks on consumer protections and rollbacks of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that would cost struggling families money and put all of us at risk of another crash,” it adds.
As of press time, about 116,440 people have signed onto the petition, about 77 percent of the goal of 150,000 signatures.