Al Drago/Bloomberg
WASHINGTON — House Republicans asked that banking agencies refrain from moving forward with new rules during the lame duck Biden administration, and that they keep all records that could be subpoenaed by Congress.
The letters were led by outgoing House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., and incoming Chairman French Hill, R-Ark.
Specifically, they are asking for the agencies to “preserve all existing future documents including electronic information and metadata, that are or may potentially be responsive to a congressional inquiry, request, investigation or subpoena that may be initiated or otherwise undertaken by a committee of Congress or any other investigative entity.”
The House Financial Services Committee is one of few committees with the power to subpoena the agencies, which include the Treasury Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The letter led by McHenry and Hill also warns the agencies “against finalizing partisan rulemakings over the next several weeks.” The lawmakers said the Congressional Review Act gives them the ability to disapprove rulemakings, including ones finalized toward the end of the current Congress.
Mostly, bank regulators have told Congress that they don’t plan on pursuing rulemakings in the final days of the Biden administration. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg and acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu
“We have a number of pending rulemakings, and for some of them we’ve extended the comment period,” Gruenberg said at the time. “We don’t think any of them will be ready for action before the end of the year.”
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, however, made no such promise. The bureau has aggressively pursued a number of twilight rulemakings and actions in the last few weeks, including putting
The lawmakers listed a number of outstanding requests for information from both the FDIC and the OCC. McHenry and Hill said that as of September, the committee has sought information related to the OCC’s treatment of digital assets custody.
The FDIC has a longer list, most recently for documents provided to asset management firms related to a rulemaking the agency has pursued on bank control. The committee has also asked for legal justifications for the FDIC holding closed board meetings on its cultural issues, and sought messages related to
“To date, the FDIC has failed to provide fulsome responses to the Committee’s requests,” the lawmakers said.