WASHINGTON — White House and Treasury Department officials on Wednesday claimed momentum was building in the Senate for a financial overhaul bill and said President Barack Obama would personally push hard for its passage once Congress returns next week from its spring break.
"He will do what it takes to give this leadership," Diana Farrell, a White House economic adviser, told reporters.
Even so, the officials acknowledged many knotty details remain to be worked out. "There's a lot of complexity in this," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.
The White House orchestrated the session with reporters during the two-week congressional recess to try to blunt a lobbying blitz against the measure by the financial industry.
"We think this is picking up momentum," Wolin said. He said both sides involved in the legislation appear to agree that financial regulation overhaul will happen this year. "We think it's moving along".
The administration-backed version moving through the Senate was drafted by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and approved by his committee late last month on a party-line vote.
It would rewrite financial rules to create a new consumer-protection division within the Federal Reserve, give the Fed new powers to oversee giant financial companies and subject complicated investments known as derivatives to more scrutiny.
The House passed its own version in December.
Supporters need at least one Republican vote in the Senate to muster the 60 votes needed to overcome GOP delaying tactics.
Wolin said the administration was in close touch with Dodd as he reaches out to the committee's senior Republican, Richard Shelby of Alabama, in search of common ground. Dodd has said he expects Senate floor debate on the bill later this month.
Associated Press
