In an Oval Office ceremony today, President Donald Trump signed executive orders relating to the Dodd-Frank Act and the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule. Two acts of legislation that have come under harsh scrutiny in recent years. Dodd-Frank has been criticized for raising costs for both consumers and small business while undermining competition. Created in reaction to the Great Recession, most elected officials now acknowledge the law went too far, costing the country billions in lost productivity and excessive costs. The DOL Fiduciary Rule, a rule with a benign description that hides an ugly trap for consumers, has lost favor as well.
Congressman McHenry, who is Chief Deputy Whip and Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, released a statement on the Presidential action;
“Dodd-Frank’s regulations have driven up costs and made credit less available for families and small businesses throughout western North Carolina. Over the past six years, the House Financial Services Committee has worked tirelessly to replace this broken law with a system that actually brings down costs and promotes economic growth all while maintaining strong protections for American consumers. With today’s orders from President Trump, it’s encouraging to see we finally have an ally in these efforts. Coupled with the executive order delaying the DOL’s costly fiduciary rule, these two actions illustrate Congress and the Trump Administration’s strong commitment to ensuring long-term financial security for American families and small businesses.”
Congressman Jeb Hensarling, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, stated;
“I’m very pleased that President Trump signed this executive action, which closely mirrors provisions that are found in the Financial CHOICE Act to end Wall Street bailouts, end ‘too big to fail,’ and end top-down regulations that make it harder for our economy to grow and for hardworking Americans to achieve financial independence. When Dodd-Frank was passed, Americans were promised a healthier economy, an end to bailouts and better consumer
protections. Instead, we have the weakest recovery in history, a guarantee of more Wall Street bailouts, and consumer costs have gone up while their choices have gone down. Today the big banks are bigger and the small banks are fewer. Everything from mortgages to credit cards to monthly checking fees costs more because of Dodd-Frank’s red tape, if consumers can even get access to them. Dodd-Frank failed to keep its promises, but President Trump is following through on his promise to the American people to dismantle Dodd-Frank. That’s not what Wall Street wants, but it is what hardworking Americans need to have a healthy economy with more opportunities so they can achieve financial independence. Republicans are eager to work with the President to end and replace the Dodd-Frank mistake with legislation that holds Wall Street and Washington accountable, ends taxpayer-funded bailouts forever, and unleashes America’s economic potential.”