Democratic inter-Party conflict over Dodd-Frank roll back bill

Elizabeth Warren is leading the campaign against a bipartisan bill (S.2155 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act) that will roll back key parts of the 2010 Dodd Frank financial regulation reforms. There is no evidence that mid to small sized banks have struggled to recover in recent years; when this bill was introduced community banks recorded a 9% increase in profits and larger banks recorded record-setting revenues in 2016. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the financial sector spent a record-setting $2 billion on lobbying in the 2015-2016 election cycle. With several red-state Democrats facing election this fall (Heitkamp, Manchin, McCaskill, Tester, Donnelly, etc.), and a lull in the banking regulation issue cycle, the bill stands to challenge the Democratic Party's unification on economic policy in light of Trump-era economic populism.

This brings us to where we are today; this week Warren sent out a fundraising email decrying Democrats who support S.2155, followed by a caucus meeting where the Party's disagreements were laid bare. Senator Schumer, who publicly opposes the bill, but also received the most financial sector lobbying donations of any Congressman in the 2015-2016 cycle, has recently urged Warren to focus her attack on the bills policies rather than fellow Democratic senators. Schumer is facing the biggest rift in the Democratic caucus since his tenure as minority leader. His solution thus far has been to allow moderate Democratic backers to "do what they got to do." Critics are split over whether Schumer should have done more to shut down the inter-party conflict, while others question the Democratic message bend towards pro-corporations in the eyes of liberal activists.

The bill will likely pass the Senate (currently 16 Dem supporters). The Democrats will undoubtedly push the message that the bill is intended to help small to mid-sized banks in rural areas in spite of news exposing big corporation benefits such as expanding restrictions barring consumer lawsuits against companies like Equifax. Economic policy will be a big topic this midterm season, and especially come 2020, it will be interesting to see how the Democratic Party aligns progressive ideology with the need to appease big donors and incorporate an agenda to re-invigorate working class Trump voters.