House GOP announces Dodd-Frank tweaks

House Republicans are looking to chip away at the Dodd-Frank financial reform law with a series of small tweaks.

The House Financial Services Committee unveiled on Monday five discussion drafts that would repeal or otherwise ease provisions of the Wall Street overhaul, and set a hearing for Wednesday to discuss the measures.

"Far too much of the Dodd-Frank Act was passed for political purposes, without giving enough thought to what the consequences would be for job creation and the health of our capital markets," said Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), who chairs the capital markets subcommittee holding the hearing.

The measures mark the latest attempt by House Republicans to whittle away at some of the signature achievements of the Obama administration and the previous, Democratic-controlled Congress.

Last week, the House passed two bills that each would repeal administration housing relief programs, with two more expected to be approved this week. One of the first actions of the new GOP-led House was to pass legislation repealing the healthcare reform law. However, those efforts are not expected to advance in the Senate, where Democrats retain a slim majority.

A bill to similarly repeal Dodd-Frank was introduced in January, but has failed to gain similar traction.

Instead, Republicans are pushing a series of smaller tweaks, which they contend would reduce the burdens of the law and boost the economy.

"Provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act not only significantly raise the cost of doing business in America but also send jobs overseas," said Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.). "At a time when the nation’s unemployment rate remains near 9 percent, that’s unacceptable."

Among the bills being considered by the subcommittee is one that would increase the small business exemption from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registrations to $50 million from $5 million. Another would exempt advisers to private equity funds from SEC registration.

Another bill would repeal a Dodd-Frank provision that would require publicly traded companies to disclose their median annual total compensation for employees, as Republicans argued it would be burdensome with little public benefit.