On December 17, U.S. House Financial Services Committee leaders warned the Biden administration’s agencies to refrain from making any additional “partisan” rulemaking over the several weeks remaining before the transition to a new presidential administration. Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and French Hill (R-AR), the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee, respectively, sent substantially similar letters to eight agencies falling under the Committee’s jurisdiction, including the Treasury, HUD, the SEC, the Fed, the FDIC, the CFPB, the OCC, and FHFA.

In cautioning the agencies against finalizing these rulemakings, the Committee reminded the agencies that the Congressional Review Act authorizes Congress to disapprove of rulemakings, including those finalized toward the end of Congress, and expressed the Committee’s view that the financial system would not benefit from “last-minute partisan rulemaking attempts.” The Committee also instructed agencies to preserve documents and communications that may be responsive to Congressional inquiries.

In its letters to the OCC, the FDIC, the SEC, FHFA, and the Fed, the Committee also included a list of outstanding requests issued by the Committee to the agencies in September and October, demanding that the agencies produce fulsome responses to the Committee’s requests by January 2, 2025.