Watching the United States Senate in action has been compared towatching paint dry.

So, it shouldn't be surprising that while the House has beenaggressive in passing regulatory relief legislation in the firstweeks of the 115th Congress, the Senate and its committees haven'tfollowed suit.

“The expectation is that the House will move first,” BradThaler, NAFCU's vice president for legislative affairs, said.

Compounding the Senate's usual slow pace is the body'sconstitutional duty to confirm nominees to fill top jobs at federalagencies and cabinet-level departments.

For instance, the Senate Banking Committee not only will holdconfirmation hearings and votes on high-profile cabinet nominees,but also for nominees for lower-profile agencies, such as theExport-Import Bank, and yes, the NCUA.

Confirmation hearings and votes definitely are a factor, RyanDonovan, CUNA's chief advocacy officer, said.

“That could, and likely will, delay the Senate BankingCommittee,” he said.

The House already has passed the REINS Act, which would requirethat federal agencies send significant regulations to Congressbefore they are implemented. The House also has passed legislationthat would allow Congress to package rules it wants rescinded intoone piece of legislation for its consideration.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has introduced the REINS Act in theSenate, where it was referred to the Homeland Security andGovernmental Affairs Committee, which has not yet acted on thebill.

In addition, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling(R-Texas) is expected to re-introduce his CHOICE Act, whichreplaces the Dodd-Frank financial services regulatory regime.

The legislation, as introduced last year, would convert the CFPBinto a five-member commission and make it subject to the annualappropriations process. It would do the same with the NCUA boardand reduce the regulatory burden for some banks and creditunions.

That legislation received the support of House Republicanleadership, which included it as part of its legislative agenda forthe year.

The CHOICE Act was not introduced in the Senate last year.Then-Senate Banking Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) had his ownlegislation that would have provided regulatory relief forfinancial institutions, but the Senate never considered it.

The House has also considered changes to the CFPB inappropriations measures, but the Senate never has.

And then, there's the threshold needed to pass legislation inthe Senate. That could also slow the Senate and limit what can beaccomplished during this Congress.

In the House, the Republican leadership controls the flow oflegislation through the Rules Committee, which sets limits ondebate and amendments.

The Senate does not have such a body and as a result, debateusually is not limited. That often results in the majority partyleaders filing a cloture motion to limit debate.

Passage of cloture motion requires a 60-vote majority, ratherthan a 50-vote majority.

Republicans have 52 members in the Senate. As a result,Republicans must rely on Democrats to move legislation.

“The net result is that the House will pass its comprehensivereform legislation, but the Senate will struggle to produce alegislative vehicle that can be taken to a House and Senate jointconference committee in order to iron out the differences betweenthe two bills,” Marvin Umholtz, president/CEO of Umholtz StrategicPlanning & Consulting Services in Olympia, Wash., said. “I amconvinced that they will succeed with producing that regulatoryrelief, however, it will not come as rapidly or as comprehensivelyas proponents would like.”

It also remains unclear whether new Senate Banking Chairman MikeCrapo (R-Id.) will try to move a comprehensive regulatory measure,such as the CHOICE Act, or rely on smaller, incremental regulatorychanges.

“It depends on what the House does and what Crapo can movethrough the committee,” Thaler said. “There are a lot of differentroutes it could take.”

Donovan said that floor debate time in the Senate may be at apremium this year, so Crapo may decide to try to push acomprehensive bill. On the other hand, he said, it often is easierto gain the requisite votes when a smaller, incremental bill isconsidered.

Crapo is likely to bring a more bipartisan atmosphere to theBanking Committee, Thaler said.

“He has a track record of finding common ground,” he said. “Hehas a track record of getting things done.”

John McKechnie, CUNA's former director of political affairsagreed that Crapo often has been able to reach across the aisle toDemocrats.

“Crapo is a substantive guy, and he has shown an ability to workwith Democrats, so that's a reason for optimism that Senate Bankingwill produce real results this year,” McKechnie, now a seniorpartner at Total Spectrum, said. 

Despite all the caveats, former NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar saidhe is confident that substantial legislation will pass.

“I believe there will be considerable legislative focus onreigning in some of the regulatory excess of the past eight years,particularly in regard to the CFPB,” Dollar, now a principalpartner at Dollar Associates in Birmingham, Ala., said. He said hebelieves that Congress will succeed in converting the CFPB into afive-member board rather than an agency governed by a singledirector.

He added that congressional Republicans and President Trump mayhave an even larger impact by conducting strict oversight ofregulatory agencies.

McKechnie agreed that working together, President Trump andRepublicans on Capitol Hill will succeed in alleviating some of theregulatory burden for credit unions.

“As an overall observation, credit unions have reason foroptimism that real regulatory relief addressing the CFPB as well asother Dodd-Frank imposed rules will become law at some point in the115th Congress,” he said. “Timetables are always slippery,but there seems to be both the political and policy will to get thejob done.”