Waters: Banks 'shaking in their boots' at thought of me as chairwoman

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said banks on Wall Street are "shaking in their boots" at the prospect of her becoming chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee.

Waters is next in line to take over as top Democrat on the panel following the retirement of Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) at the end of 2012. She told California Democrats gathered for a convention last weekend that she was eager to take over at the top, urging them to help Democrats reclaim control of the House in the upcoming election.

"Let me let you in on a secret. I am the senior-most person serving on the Financial Services Committee," she said. "Barney Frank is about to retire and guess who’s shaking in their boots? The too-big-to-fail banks and financial institutions and all of Wall Street, because Maxine Waters is going to be the next chair of the Financial Services Committee!"

Waters is angling to take over for Democrats on the committee monitoring Wall Street in 2013, which will lead the effort to defend the Dodd-Frank financial reform law from GOP attempts to roll it back. So far, no direct challenger from her party has emerged.

The most apparent obstacle to her becoming the top Democrat is a pending ethics investigation against her. The House Ethics Committee has hired outside counsel to examine its initial handling of allegations against her and whether she violated House ethics rules. The committee opted to extend the contract for that counsel in December, and has given no indication of when it might conclude.

The committee is examining whether Waters improperly directed federal funding to a bank in which her husband owned stock and previously served as a board member. Waters has strongly defended her innocence, and the committee suspended the investigation last year to bring on outside counsel.

The Financial Services Committee is set for a major shake-up at the top in 2013, with the top members of both parties heading elsewhere. In addition to Frank's retirement, Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) has said he does not plan to seek a waiver to avoid term limits and stay on as top Republican on the committee beyond 2012.