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In a significant move that signals a shift in regulatory climate, House Republicans voted on Tuesday to repeal a Biden-era policy that aimed to impose stricter oversight on proposed bank mergers. The vote, which passed 220-207, nullifies a rule put in place by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) last September. This legislation is now waiting for President Donald Trump's signature.

The repeal measure already cleared the Senate earlier this month with a 52-47 vote, reflecting a clear partisan divide. Although the Trump administration had preemptively scrapped the Biden-era rule earlier this month, the Congressional Review Act empowers Republicans to ensure that no future administration can enact a "substantially similar" regulation.

Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who sponsored the resolution, described it as an "insurance policy" against what he termed "bad regulators." He argued that the resolution would facilitate quicker approvals for bank mergers, thereby enhancing financial stability and enabling smaller regional banks to compete more effectively against larger Wall Street institutions.

The now-rescinded OCC rule had abolished an expedited process for bank merger approvals that had been a long-standing practice, allowing mergers to be approved simply because regulators hadn’t acted on the application. This regulatory rollback underscores a broader shift towards a more permissive environment for financial institutions under Republican control.

The move has sparked sharp criticism from Democrats. Rep. Maxine Waters, who serves as the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, vehemently opposed the rollback, arguing that it would allow banks to expand unchecked, thereby putting consumers at risk. "The customers are the victims of these big mergers," Waters warned during the House floor debate.

The debate over this financial regulation rollback is part of a broader effort by Republicans to undo policies aimed at curbing consolidation in the financial sector. Trump-era regulators have already demonstrated their more lenient stance by approving significant mergers, such as Capital One’s recent $35 billion acquisition of Discover.

Other agencies, including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), have also moved to dismantle Biden-era rules that called for a more comprehensive evaluation of proposed deals’ impacts on competition. This latest legislative action reflects ongoing partisan battles over the direction of financial regulation in Washington.