Senate, Financial Reform | featured news

Rep. Barney Frank , D-Mass., said he advised President Obama against taking up health care reform following a special election in 2010 that changed Democrats' fortunes in the Senate, saying that he should have instead turned his focus to financial reform.

A broad overhaul of the nation’s financial regulatory system cleared one last procedural hurdle in the Senate on Thursday as it headed for final Congressional approval later in the day.

As vote nears, Senate Democrats don't yet have votes to overcome a threatened GOP filibuster.

West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin on Wednesday put off naming a successor to the late Senator Robert Byrd, which could further complicate passage of financial reform legislation in the U.S. Senate .

The Senate named 12 senators, including tough Wall Street critics and more moderate members, Tuesday to a panel that will finalize the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the 1930s.

Three Republicans joined the Democratic majority on Thursday in an action that put Congress on a path to approve a broad expansion of oversight of the financial markets.

Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to delay final action on a sweeping financial regulation bill, raising an obstacle to the legislation as it approached the home stretch. The vote was 57-42, three votes shy of the 60 needed to pass. Three Democrats joined 39 Republicans in voting against the measure. Among them was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who switched his vote from yes for procedural reasons. Reid said he'd seek a new vote Thursday.

The Senate's top Republican signaled Wednesday that a GOP filibuster of Wall Street reform legislation will end.

Senate Republicans, attacked for twice blocking legislation to rein in Wall Street, floated a partial alternative proposal Tuesday and said it could lead to election-year compromise on an issue that commands strong public support....

Top Republicans appeared nearer to a deal with Democrats on a financial regulation bill, with the ranking senator on the banking committee saying that they were “very close” on the key particulars.