Some Republican senators are looking to put financial deregulation on the fast track next year by using a special legislative procedure to help them dismantle parts of Dodd-Frank, the Wall Street Journal reported today. They are exploring use of a tactic known as reconciliation, a procedural shortcut tied to the budget, which would allow them to make legislative changes to the 2010 regulatory-overhaul law with just a simple majority in the Senate. Republicans are likely to hold 52 seats in the 100-seat chamber, meaning they could pass such changes with just GOP votes. They would otherwise need 60 votes to get the legislation through the Senate, putting them in the difficult position of needing support from some Democrats, who generally oppose rolling back the landmark law. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is leading the charge to use reconciliation to pare back pieces of the law, which President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he wanted to scale back or scrap.
