Presidential Appointments to Full-Time Positions on Regulatory and Other Collegial Boards and Commissions, 115th Congress

"The President makes appointments to certain positions within the federal government, either using authorities granted to the President alone or with the advice and consent of the Senate. There are some 151 full-time leadership positions on 34 federal regulatory and other collegial boards and commissions for which the Senate provides advice and consent. This report identifies all nominations submitted to the Senate for full-time positions on these 34 boards and commissions during the 115th Congress.

Information for each board and commission is presented in profiles and tables. The profiles provide information on leadership structures and statutory requirements (such as term limits and party balance requirements). The tables include full-time positions confirmed by the Senate, incumbents as of the end of the 115th Congress, incumbents’ parties (where balance is required), and appointment action within each board or commission. Additional summary information across all 34 boards and commissions appears in Appendix A.

During the 115 th Congress, the President submitted 140 nominations to the Senate for full-time positions on these boards and commissions (most of the remaining positions on these boards and commissions were not vacant during that time). Of these 140 nominations, 75 were confirmed, 12 were withdrawn, and 53 were returned to the President. At the end of the 115 th Congress, 22 incumbents were serving past the expiration of their terms. In addition, there were 43 vacancies among the 151 positions.

Information for this report was compiled using the Senate nominations database at https://www.congress.gov/, the Congressional Record (daily edition), the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, telephone discussions with agency officials, agency websites, the United States Code, and the 2016 Plum Book (United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions)..."
Presidential appointments

Regulatory Reform 10 Years After the Financial Crisis: Systemic Risk Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Institutions

"When large, interconnected financial institutions become distressed, policymakers have historically faced a choice between (1) a taxpayer-funded bailout, and (2) the destabilization of the financial system—a dilemma that commentators have labeled the “too-big-to-fail” (TBTF) problem. The 2007-2009 financial crisis highlighted the significance of the TBTF problem. During the crisis, a number of large financial institutions experienced severe distress, and the federal government committed hundreds of billions of dollars in an effort to rescue the financial system. According to some commentators, the crisis underscored the inadequacy of existing prudential regulation of large financial institutions, and of the bankruptcy system for resolving the failure of such institutions.

In response to the crisis, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) in 2010. Titles I and II of Dodd-Frank are specifically directed at minimizing the systemic risk created by TBTF financial institutions. In order to minimize the risks that large financial institutions will fail, Title I of Dodd-Frank establishes an enhanced prudential regulatory regime for certain large bank holding companies and non-bank financial companies. In order to “resolve” (i.e., reorganize or liquidate) systemically important financial institutions, Title II establishes a new resolution regime available for such institutions outside of the Bankruptcy Code.."
Regulotory reform

Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs

"REDUCING REGULATION AND CONTROLLING REGULATORY COSTS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, as amended (31 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Purpose.  It is the policy of the executive branch to be prudent and financially responsible in the expenditure of funds, from both public and private sources.  In addition to the management of the direct expenditure of taxpayer dollars through the budgeting process, it is essential to manage the costs associated with the governmental imposition of private expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations.  Toward that end, it is important that for every one new regulation issued, at least two prior regulations be identified for elimination, and that the cost of planned regulations be prudently managed and controlled through a budgeting process..."

 Executive Regulations

H.R. 4173 Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010
"...CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that enacting H.R. 4173 would
increase revenues by $12.1 billion over the 2011-2015 period and by $33.5 billion over
the 2011-2020 period and increase direct spending by $25.0 billion and $53.2 billion over
the same periods, respectively. In total, CBO estimates those changes would increase
budget deficits by $12.9 billion over the 2011-2015 period and by $19.7 billion over the
2011-2020 period. In addition, CBO estimates that implementing the act would increase
spending subject to appropriation by $4.6 billion over the 2011-2015 period and
$13.2 billion over the 2011-2020 period..."

Financial Regulatory Reform and the 111th Congress
"Financial regulatory reform is being discussed in the 111th Congress, the continuation of a policy debate that began before the September 2008 financial disruption. For example, Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson issued a blueprint for financial reform in March 2008. In September
2008, after this blueprint was issued but before congressional action, the financial system suffered severe distress as Lehman Brothers and AIG failed. This financial panic accelerated the review of financial regulation and refocused some of the policy debate on areas that experienced the most distress.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner issued a new reform plan in June 2009. House committees
initially reviewed many related bills on an issue-by-issue basis. House Financial Services
Committee Chairman Barney Frank then consolidated proposals into a comprehensive bill, the
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173) and the House passed the
bill on December 11, 2009. H.R. 4173 as passed contains elements of H.R. 1728, H.R. 2571, H.R.
2609, H.R. 3126, H.R. 3269, H.R. 3817, H.R. 3818, H.R. 3890, and H.R. 3996. On March 22,
2010, the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee amended and ordered reported
Chairman Christopher Dodd’s Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (RAFSA)..."