The House on Thursday passed a financial services and general government spending bill for fiscal year 2017 that would magnify scrutiny on some regulators and make funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission, MorningConsult.com reported on Friday. Lawmakers voted 239-185 to pass H.R. 5485 after considering 70 amendments. The White House last month threatened to veto the legislation, which now heads to the Senate. The spending bill would cut $236 million in IRS funding from 2016 levels and $50 million from the SEC’s budget. It also would give Congress a firmer grip on regulators like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Lawmakers adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) that would prohibit the use of funds to classify nonbank firms as systemically important financial institutions. They also adopted one offered by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) that would bar funds from being used to implement, administer or enforce new regulatory actions of more than $100 million.
