How the election could reshape key finance, banking committees

Several finance and banking committee chairmanships will turn over in the next Congress.

Retirements, term limits and two electoral losses have retooled the slate of Republican leaders charged with shaping financial policy. 

GOP control of the White House, Senate and House of Representatives could usher sweeping changes to United States financial regulation, tax policy and trade. 

Committee memberships are reassigned each Congress, and preliminary guesses are based on current seniority.

{mosads}Here’s an early look at who could be in charge. 

Senate Banking Committee: 

Out: Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)

In: Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

Republican conference term limits prevent Shelby from chairing the Banking Committee in 2017. He’ll likely hand the gavel to Crapo, the second-most senior Republican on the panel that oversees U.S. banks and federal bank regulators.

Shelby was criticized by Democrats and financial services lobbyists for a lack of major legislative accomplishments and votes on top administration nominees. 

Crapo has received bipartisan praise, and both he and Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), the committee’s ranking Democrat, touted their close working relationship.

Crapo will have to usher a slew of critical administration nominees through the committee and lead the Senate’s efforts on an expected revamp of post-recession financial regulation.

Senate Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance

Out: Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)

In: Unclear

Kirk was one of the few incumbent Republican senators to lose Tuesday night. The five-person subpanel he controls is small, but drew attention with hearings on the Obama administration’s cash lawsuit settlement with Iran that coincided with the release of several American prisoners.

Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) are the two remaining GOP senators on the subcommittee. Cotton is more senior than Sasse, but Republicans will need to add another member to the panel to maintain their 3-2 majority. If that Republican is more senior than Cotton, he or she would likely be the new chairperson.

Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment

Out: Crapo

In: Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) or Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)

Crapo would likely hand off the gavel of this subcommittee once he takes the full committee’s chairmanship. Corker is the next-most senior Republican but already chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It’s rare for a full committee chairman to hold a subcommittee chairmanship, making Toomey a likely successor to Crapo.

The committee had broad jurisdiction over securities markets, exchanges, government-sponsored enterprises and derivatives, making it an integral first step for a wide array of bills.

President-elect Donald Trump’s late rise and unexpected win triggered a stock market meltdown Tuesday night through early Wednesday morning. The uncertainty surrounding his presidency and platform could weigh heavily on stocks and trading, adding to the weight on this committee’s shoulders.

Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight

Out: Crapo

In: Unclear 

If Crapo chairs the Banking Committee and surrenders his subcommittee gavels, it could set off a massive shuffle within the Finance Committee for subpanel chairmanships. It’s unclear how this would shake out, given the high number of full committee chairmen who sit on Finance subcommittees.

Whoever chairs the subcommittee might need to channel renewed pressure on the IRS from Republicans emboldened by their sweeping victory.

Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure

Out: Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.)

In: Unclear

Coats is retiring, leaving control of the subcommittee up to a slew of shuffling gavels. This subpanel could shape Trump’s promised southern border wall, infrastructure package and looser environmental standards for energy sources.

House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises

Out: Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.)

In: Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.)

Garrett lost his reelection campaign to Rep.-elect Josh Gottheimer (D) after reported objections to LGBT Republican candidates alienated voters in his northern New Jersey district.

Garrett’s departure means King is next in line to control the influential Financial Services subpanel that oversees major banks and financial institutions. 

House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit

Out: Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas)

In: Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) or Frank Lucas (R-Okla.)

Neugebauer is retiring from Congress this year, meaning Pearce or Lucas would be next in line to lead the panel with oversight over federal financial regulators, including the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Pearce is the committee’s vice chairman, and Lucas is next-most senior Republican. 

House Financial Services Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing

Out: Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)

In: Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-N.C.) or Peter King 

Fitzpatrick’s retirement means control of the special panel could go to Pittenger, its vice chairman, or King, former House Homeland Security Committee chairman. The panel’s jurisdiction includes money laundering and state-sponsored terrorism.

House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy

Out: Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.)

In: Unclear

Boustany abandoned his House seat in an unsuccessful Senate run. The ascension of full committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) set off a musical chairs of subcommittee gavels. There’s no clear successor for Boustany, but whoever takes his gavel could play an integral role in polishing and shepherding Trump’s tax reform.