Neugebauer wants regulators to freeze work on Dodd-Frank

Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) wants federal regulators to delay for a year the crafting of rules to implement the Dodd-Frank Act and instead use that time to better understand the implications of the rules, he said in an interview.

Neugebauer, who will chair the House Financial Services Committee's Oversight subcommittee, told Reuters in an interview that he might introduce legislation that would mandate such a hiatus next year in the new Congress.

"I think the first thing we need to do is hit the pause button here and extend these deadlines and get a picture of where we are," he said Tuesday.

Neugebauer's comments are the latest indication of the Republican plan to slow work on implementing the financial reform law, which was opposed by most GOP members. Federal regulators are currently writing hundreds of rules implementing various provisions of the financial reform overhaul.

Officials with several agencies have already said they might miss regulatory deadlines mandated by Dodd-Frank. Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told lawmakers at a hearing earlier this month that he did not think his agency would meet a mid-January deadline for imposing position limits on energy and metals trading. And Federal Reserve officials have said they might miss an April deadline for finalizing rules on debit card fees because it needs to collect more information.

Neugebauer said his bill could exempt rules that prove to be necessary or are already significantly behind schedule. However, it is unlikely such legislation would be enacted, with Democrats still controlling the Senate and White House in 2011.