Sweeping financial overhaul legislation cleared its final procedural hurdle on the way to President Barack Obama’s desk Thursday, setting the stage for the Senate to give its final approval to the measure later in the day.
The Senate voted 60-to-38 to end debate on the wide-ranging legislation, a move that required 60 votes to succeed. A final vote is expected Thursday afternoon and will require only a simple majority to pass the bill. Obama has said he hopes to sign the legislation into law next week.
The successful procedural vote on the “conference” report negotiated between House and Senate lawmakers brings the Obama administration just inches away from scoring a major domestic policy victory.
The measure will touch all areas of the financial markets, affecting how consumers obtain credit cards and mortgages, dictating how the government dismantles failing financial firms, and directing federal regulators’ focus on potential flashpoints in the economy.
But the work on the far-reaching rewrite of the nation’s financial rules will hardly be over when Obama signs it into law. The legislation gives financial regulators significant discretion to shape the rules implementing the legislation. That rulemaking process will determine how the new law affects those ranging from traders of complicated derivatives to consumers shopping for a mortgage or a credit card.
In the final hours leading up to the vote, Senate Republicans charged the bill would send jobs overseas because of overregulation. They also said it would hurt small businesses while not dealing with the fundamental problems of the economy.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), a key architect of the legislation, admitted that the measure is not perfect. But he said it gives regulators the tools to try to stop another financial crisis from occurring.