Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd to push financial regulations

WASHINGTON — With one eye on the calendar and the other on elusive bipartisanship, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to offer his own version of a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations without Republican support.

Dodd said Thursday he would release his proposal on Monday and begin the committee's work on the bill the week of March 22.

"Clearly, we need to move along," he said.

His decision immediately complicated the prospects for a Senate bill already months in the making, and it raised new questions about Congress' ability to respond to a financial crisis that erupted more than 18 months ago with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Four weeks of negotiations between Dodd, D-Conn., and Republican Sen. Bob Corker had closed differences over key provisions, including consumer protections, but details on that and other sticking points remained unsettled.

"As time moves on, you just limit the possibilities of getting something done, particularly a bill of this magnitude and this complexity," Dodd said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday he hoped the Senate would act on a bill by Memorial Day.

Dodd's surprise decision to move without a final deal comes during an era of high partisanship in Congress that has entangled health care, blocked progress on climate change and energy legislation, and angered a public with an increasing disdain for incumbents.

Congress and the administration have been trying to assemble an overhaul of regulations since last summer in hopes of preventing a recurrence of the 2008 Wall Street meltdown. The House passed its version of a bill in December on a party-line vote.

"It will continue to be a challenge to reach a bipartisan deal," said Scott Talbott, the chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, an association of the banking industry.

Corker on Thursday said he and Dodd had made significant progress and had agreed in principle on consumer protections, one of the most contentious issues. He described himself as disappointed in Dodd's decision but said he expected Dodd's proposal would be more moderate than a bill Dodd drafted late last year.

"There has been no breakdown. Like, none," he said. "What happened was you're on the five-yard line, the lights went out."