The House Financial Services Committee, Explained

What Is The House Financial Services Committee?

The House Financial Services Committee oversees the financial and housing sectors of our nation. Currently chaired by Maxine Waters (D-CA), with ranking member Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the Committee’s 2020 hearings include artificial intelligence and discrimination in banking; “Rent-A-Bank schemes and Debt-Traps;” the future of public housing; and the state of our consumer protection agencies.

What Is The Financial Services Committee Responsible For?

The Financial Services regulates housing and banking, and protects consumers through legislation like the U.S. Housing Act, the Truth In Lending Act, the Housing and Community Development Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Community Reinvestment Act, and financial privacy laws. The full committee oversees:

• Banking
• Insurance
• Real estate
• Public and assisted housing
• Securities

All laws and regulations regarding the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Reserve Bank, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac go through the Committee. International programs like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund fall under its vast umbrella.

The Financial Services Committee offers a livestream of its hearings and provides help to consumers.

Who Is The Current Chairwoman?

Maxine Waters (D-CA) currently chairs the Financial Services Committee and is the Committee’s first African American chair as well as its first female chair. Waters, serving her 15th term as a congresswoman, represents California’s 43rd district, which includes much of Los Angeles. The 5th of 13 children, Waters became a force in California state politics before winning her congressional seat. With a focus on justice, equality, and poverty throughout her long career, among many other accomplishments, Waters encouraged divestment in South Africa, introduced a program to reduce neighborhood blight while helping people to stay in their homes, and brought funding and attention to the largely ignored HIV/AIDS crisis among minorities in the 1990s.

Who Are The Members Of The House Financial Services Committee?

Including Chairwoman Waters, there are 60 members of the House Financial Services Committee, with 34 Democrats and 26 Republicans.

History of the House Financial Services Committee

In December 1865, after the end of the Civil War, the Banking and Currency Committee spun off from the overburdened Ways and Means Committee. Its initial duties largely dealt with banking. In 1913 the Committee’s jurisdiction included the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Another expansion in 1921 included the War Finance Corporation and farm loans, among other powers.

In 1932, the Committee gained jurisdiction over home loans, and in 1946, jurisdiction over most of the areas it covers today. In 1968, the Banking and Currency Committee became the House Financial Services Committee. The 113th Congress, spanning January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, set the current jurisdiction of the House Financial Services Committee:

(1) Banks and banking, including deposit insurance and Federal monetary policy.

(2) Economic stabilization, defense production, renegotiation, and control of the price of commodities, rents, and services.

(3) Financial aid to commerce and industry (other than transportation).

(4) Insurance generally.

(5) International finance.

(6) International financial and monetary organizations.

(7) Money and credit, including currency and the issuance of notes and redemption thereof; gold and silver, including the coinage thereof; valuation and revaluation of the dollar.

(8) Public and private housing.

(9) Securities and exchanges.

(10) Urban development.

Past Chairs of the House Appropriations Committee:

• Maxine Waters, Democrat (2019–Present)
• Jeb Hensarling, Republican (2013–2019)
• Spencer Bachus, Republican (2011–2013)
• Barney Frank. Democrat, (2007–2011)
• Mike Oxley, Republican (2001–2007)
• Jim Leach, Republican (1995–2001)
• Henry B. Gonzalez, Democrat (1989–1995)
• Fernand St. Germain, Democrat (1981–1989)
• Henry S. Reuss, Democrat (1975–1981)
• Wright Patman, Democrat (1963–1975)
• Brent Spence, Democrat (1955–1963)

The Rantt Rundown

The House Financial Services Committee regulates all the financial aspects of our lives, from our relationships to banks, to the ways we secure housing, to our consumer rights in the financial sector. Currently chaired by Maxine Waters of California, the first African American and the first female chair in the history of the committee, Financial Services got its start as a spinoff of Ways and Means shortly after the end of the Civil War. The Committee consists of 34 Democrats, including the Chairwoman, and 26 Republicans. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina serves as the ranking member.

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