SVB collapse: White House looks to Congress for banking system response

TThe White House reiterated its call for greater banking regulation on Thursday but did not mention any steps towards a larger bank rescue.

President Joe Biden asked Congress to strengthen regulation in the wake Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. However, specifics have not yet been made public.

SVB COLLAPSE – YELLEN ASSURES CONGRESS BANKING SYSTEM ‘SOUND’

“We have seen bipartisan support for a piece of legislation, the Warren/Porter bill, and we appreciate those folks putting their ideas together,” Karine Jean Pierre, press secretary, said. “We’re going to look closely at that bill and other regulatory changes as well.”

Jean-Pierre didn’t announce any immediate actions to strengthen the banking system. She also repeated the accusation that President Donald Trump was to be blame.

“Unfortunately, during the last administration in 2018, some of those regulations that would’ve been incredibly important were rolled back. Congress and regulators must strengthen those rules for larger banks so that this doesn’t happen again,” Jean-Pierre said.

Two Democrats, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Rep. Katie Porter(D-CA) have introduced legislation to reverse the Dodd-Frank Act partial rollback approved by Congress in 2018.

Although progressives blame Republicans, 17 senator Democrats approved the rollback as well as 33 House Democrats. Republicans have claimed that existing regulations should have raised red flags about SVB and that better enforcement was the solution.

Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, assured Congress earlier in the day that the banking system is sound.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM THE WASHINGTON XAMINER

Jean-Pierre stated that the Biden administration has limited capabilities without legislative action.

“There’s quite a bit that we can do administratively, but without Congress, we can’t fully deal with this issue,” She said. “We will have more to say on the specific regulatory changes in the next few days.”