Republicans float bill to repeal Wall Street reform

A Republican lawmaker introduced legislation Thursday to repeal the Wall Street reform bill passed last year by Congress.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a member of the House Financial Services Committee, released a bill to repeal the Dodd-Frank law adding new regulations to the banking and financial industry.

“I’m pleased to offer a full repeal of the job-killing Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill. Dodd-Frank grossly expanded the federal government beyond its jurisdictional boundaries," Bachmann said in a statement. "It gave Washington bureaucrats the power to interpret and enforce the legislation with little oversight."

Republicans had largely voted against implementing the new financial regulations as they made their way through Congress last year. But GOP leaders have been more dodgy about committing to repealing Dodd-Frank, as they have with healthcare reform.

The Obama administration and Democrats believe that the Wall Street bill is one of the most popular accomplishments of the past two years. Polls showed that the legislation, which increases government regulation of banks, was generally popular.

Obama, on the campaign trail this fall, at times made the warning that a GOP majority in Congress would mean that legislation would be undercut or done away with.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had endorsed the repeal of Wall Street reform, but some Republican senators joined with Democrats to help pass the bill through the upper chamber.

There's no indication that House leaders intend to advance Bachmann's bill, though it enjoys co-sponsorship from several key lawmakers, including House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).