Latest news with #SenateBankingCommittee
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Elizabeth Warren Challenges Plan To Bring Private Equity Into 401(k)s, Citing Transparency And Fee Concerns
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has raised concerns about a major retirement plan provider's intent to offer private equity and credit investments within 401(k) accounts. What Happened: In a letter obtained by Axios, Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, addressed Empower's CEO, probing the company's rationale for introducing private equity into defined contribution plans. She asked how the firm determined this move aligns with the best interests of its clients, requested details on investment allocations, and inquired about any legal advice the firm received. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — this is your last chance to become an investor for $0.80 per share. Peter Thiel turned $1,700 into $5 billion—now accredited investors are eyeing this software company with similar breakout potential. Learn how you can invest with $1,000 at just $0.30/share. Empower has not yet rolled out the program but has noted plans to include investor safeguards such as fee reductions and liquidity measures. Why It Matters: Supporters of the shift argue it could offer everyday investors access to high-return opportunities traditionally reserved for wealthy individuals and institutions. The concept gained traction under the Trump administration as a way to democratize investment options. However, critics like Warren argue it could jeopardize retirement savings due to private equity's complex fee structures, limited transparency, and uneven performance record. She also highlighted emerging risks in the private credit market. In March, reports emerged stating that President Donald Trump is considering a new executive order that would push U.S. agencies to let private equity firms tap into the country's huge 401(k) savings pool, which is worth almost $9 trillion. Private equity firms have long pushed for regulatory changes that would enable this. Read Next: Invest early in CancerVax's breakthrough tech aiming to disrupt a $231B market. Back a bold new approach to cancer treatment with high-growth potential. Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Here's how you can earn passive income with just $100. Photo: OogImages/Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Elizabeth Warren Challenges Plan To Bring Private Equity Into 401(k)s, Citing Transparency And Fee Concerns originally appeared on
Al Arabiya
17 hours ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Senate Parliamentarian Deals Blow to GOP Plan to Gut Consumer Bureau in Tax Bill
Republicans have suffered a sizable setback on one key aspect of President Donald Trump's big bill after their plans to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other provisions from the Senate Banking Committee ran into procedural violations with the Senate parliamentarian. Republicans in the Senate proposed zeroing-out funding for the CFPB–the landmark agency set up in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis–to save $6.4 billion. The bureau had been designed as a way to better protect Americans from financial fraud, but has been opposed by many GOP lawmakers since its inception. The Trump administration has targeted the CFPB as an example of government over-regulation and overreach. The findings by the Senate parliamentarian's office–which is working overtime scrubbing Trump's overall bill to ensure it aligns with the chamber's strict Byrd Rule processes–signal a tough road ahead. The most daunting questions are still to come as GOP leadership rushes to muscle Trump's signature package to the floor for votes by his Fourth of July deadline. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the chairman of the Banking Committee that drafted the provisions in question, said in a statement, 'My colleagues and I remain committed to cutting wasteful spending at the CFPB and will continue working with the Senate parliamentarian on the Committee's provisions.' For Democrats, who have been fighting Trump's 1,000-page package at every step, the parliamentarian's advisory amounted to a significant win. 'Democrats fought back, and we will keep fighting back against this ugly bill,' said Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee who engineered the creation of the CFPB before she was elected to Congress. Warren said that GOP proposals are 'a reckless, dangerous attack on consumers' and would lead to more Americans being 'tricked and trapped by giant financial institutions and put the stability of our entire financial system at risk–all to hand out tax breaks to billionaires.' The parliamentarian's rulings, while advisory, are rarely, if ever, ignored. With the majority in Congress, Republicans have been drafting a sweeping package that extends some $4.5 trillion in tax cuts Trump approved during his first term in 2017 that otherwise expire at the end of the year. It adds $350 billion to national security, including billions for Trump's mass deportation agenda. And it slashes some $1 trillion from Medicaid, food stamps, and other government programs. All told, the package is estimated to add at least $2.4 trillion to the nation's deficits over the decade and leave 10.9 million more people without health care coverage, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's review of the House-passed package, which is now undergoing revisions in the Senate. The parliamentarian's office is responsible for determining if the package adheres to the Byrd Rule, named after the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who was considered one of the masters of Senate procedure. The rule essentially bars policy matters from being addressed in the budget reconciliation process. Senate GOP leaders are using the budget reconciliation process–which is increasingly how big bills move through the Congress–because it allows passage on a simple majority vote rather than face a filibuster with the higher sixty-vote threshold. But if any of the bill's provisions violate the Byrd Rule, that means they can be challenged at the tougher sixty-vote threshold, which is a tall order in the 53-47 Senate. Leaders are often forced to strip those proposals from the package, even though doing so risks losing support from lawmakers who championed those provisions. One of the biggest questions ahead for the parliamentarian will be over the Senate GOP's proposal to use current policy, as opposed to current law, to determine the baseline budget and whether the overall package adds significantly to deficits. Already, the Senate parliamentarian's office has waded through several titles of Trump's big bill, including those from the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Energy & Public Works Committee. The Banking panel offered a modest bill–just eight pages–and much of it was deemed out of compliance. The parliamentarian found that, in addition to gutting the CFPB, other provisions aimed at rolling back entities put in place after the 2008 financial crisis would violate the Byrd Rule. Those include a GOP provision to limit the Financial Research Fund, which was set up to conduct analysis, saving nearly $300 million, and another to shift the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which conducts oversight of accounting firms, to the Securities and Exchange Commission and terminate positions, saving $773 million. The GOP plan to change the pay schedule for employees at the Federal Reserve, saving $1.4 billion, was also determined to be in violation of the Byrd Rule. The parliamentarian's office also raised Byrd Rule violations over GOP proposals to repeal certain aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act, including on emission standards for some model year 2027 light-duty and medium-duty vehicles.
Bloomberg
12-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Key Senator Looks to Slow Ted Cruz Plan on Fed Interest to Banks
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said he opposes swift action on a proposal that would bar the Federal Reserve from paying interest on reserves to banks to help pay for Republicans' massive tax and spending package. 'While the desire to return to pre-crisis monetary policy operating procedures is understandable, any legislative change to the Federal Reserve's framework must follow regular order,' Scott said Thursday in a statement. 'This is not a decision to be rushed – it must be carefully considered and openly debated.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senate Begins Passage of Stablecoin Bill as House Marks Market-Structure Wins
The U.S. Senate took the initial steps toward final approval of its first major crypto legislation as members opened voting Wednesday on the bill to set standards for U.S. stablecoin issuers, clearing the highest procedural hurdle with a 68-30 result. In a moment that will mark the industry's greatest U.S. policy success to-date, the famously slow-moving Senate is on its way to clearing the legislation with wide bipartisan support. And as the crypto world watches the Senate reverse what had long been a crypto-resistant stance, the House of Representatives has also scored a pair of key votes to advance legislation even more vital to the industry: the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that would establish a full set of rules managing U.S. oversight of the crypto markets. In the Senate, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins of 2025 (GENIUS) Act is the much-revised bill that had already garnered bipartisan approvals in multiple procedural votes and is now on what's expected to be an inevitable path Wednesday. The Senate needed to clear the high bar of 60 votes to move to the final vote, which was easily obtained as many Democrats joined Republicans in pushing forward toward stablecoin regulation. The bill would establish a system under which stablecoins can be issued in the U.S. under the watch of state or federal regulators, and leaving some avenues for non-financial corporations to launch their own coins (a point of criticism from Democrats). Regulating these assets is fundamental to the operations of the crypto markets, in which dollar-based tokens such as Circle's USDC and Tether's USDT are routinely used in transactions and contracts. In the previous congressional session, what was then the Democrat-run Senate Banking Committee stood in the way of advancing crypto legislation, but its current Republican chairman, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, has become a crypto advocate. The chamber's overall pro-crypto sentiment has been growing stronger in this session and will be further cemented by Wednesday's votes. Before Wednesday's voting, the GENIUS Act's sponsor, Senator Bill Hagerty, asked his colleagues for support on the bill."This would strengthen our fiscal position and cement the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency," Hagerty argued. "If we fail to act now, not only will these benefits slip away, we'll also fall behind in global competitiveness without a regulatory Senator Elizabeth Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, took to the Senate floor to blast the GENIUS Act. "The GENIUS Act lacks the basic safeguards necessary to ensure that stable coins don't blow up our entire financial system," the Massachusetts senator said. "The bill permits stablecoin issuers to invest in risky assets and allows them to engage in risky non-stablecoin activities like private credit or derivatives trading."Warren had a sharp message for fellow members of her party, many of whom were set to support the bill, that they "should show a little spine" and insist that Republicans allow some of the amendments pushed earlier by Democrats. When the stablecoin bill is forwarded to the House, that leaves key decision in the hands of leaders there, whether to pair the GENIUS Act with the market structure effort, or to pursue it either as a straight-up vote on the Senate's version or a more complex process of melding the Senate's language with legislation already in the works in the House. Whatever happens, the House will need to match the Senate's approval at some point before a stablecoin bill can move to the president's desk to be signed into law. While the GENIUS Act advanced, it followed a day of successes for proponents of the Clarity Act in the House, where that bill cleared the House Financial Services Committee and the House Ag Committee with big bipartisan votes in the same day on Tuesday. Crypto lobbyists in Washington argue alongside their lawmakers allies that both bills are needed to properly regulate the industry in the while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
The Hill
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Stablecoin bill clears another hurdle in Senate, inching toward final vote
The Senate voted Wednesday to advance legislation setting up a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, bringing the crypto bill one step closer to a final vote in the upper chamber. Seventeen Democrats voted with almost every Republican to end debate on an updated version of the GENIUS Act. The new bill text was reached as part of lengthy negotiations between Republicans and crypto-friendly Democrats last month, ahead of an earlier procedural vote on the Senate floor last month. The vote breakdown was largely similar to the May vote, although Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) switched her vote to oppose the measure. She had supported the bill both in the Senate Banking Committee in March and on the Senate floor last month. Blunt Rochester voiced some hesitation Tuesday about Senate leadership's decision to forgo an open amendment process on the GENIUS Act, emphasizing that she hoped to see additional changes to the bill. 'I was really clear,' she told The Hill. 'I hoped that there would be an open amendment process, and that's what I heard Leader Thune say around last month, so I will take a look at this language, and we'll make a decision from there.' Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) ultimately scrapped the push for so-called 'regular order,' as controversial amendments — most notably, Sen. Roger Marshall's (R-Kan.) Credit Card Competition Act — threatened to upend support for the bill. The decision to move forward without an open amendments process frustrates a push by several Democrats to add in a provision that would prevent President Trump and other elected officials from profiting off stablecoins. 'The GENIUS act attempts to set up some guardrails for buying and selling a type of cryptocurrency, one type called a stablecoin,' Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said on the Senate floor ahead of Wednesday's vote. 'Well, we need guardrails that ensure that government officials aren't openly asking people to buy their coins in order to increase their personal profit or their family's profit,' he continued. 'Where are those guardrails in this bill? They're completely, totally absent.' However, crypto-friendly Democrats who have been deeply involved in negotiations are urging their colleagues to support the bill despite some of its shortcomings. 'It's extremely unhelpful that we have a president who's involved in this industry, and I would love to ban this activity, but that does not diminish the excellent work of this legislation,' Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday. 'It does not diminish the hard work that bipartisan group of senators put into this to make a difference and to write a law that can protect consumers, that can protect our financial services industry, that can protect the strength of the dollar, and that can protect people who would like access to capital,' she added. The GENIUS Act likely faces a handful more votes before it can clear the Senate and head to the House. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) told The Hill on Tuesday that she expects a final vote on the bill next week.
