YAY, Barnie Frank is quitting . . . . Oh Crud, he might be replaced by . . . . Maxine Waters!

[PHILIP SCHNEIDER]

Rep. Frank won’t run for reelection

By Russell Berman and Josh Lederman - 11/28/11 01:07 PM ET

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) announced Monday that he is not seeking reelection, ending a 32-year career in the House.

Frank, 71, is the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee and the architect, with former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), of the sweeping Wall Street regulatory reform law enacted in 2010.

 

Maxine Waters in line to take over from Frank on Financial Services

By Peter Schroeder - 11/28/11 12:29 PM ET

Wall Street executives are bracing for the possibility that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) will take over as the senior Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee after Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) retires.

Waters is in line for Frank’s spot and could become chairwoman of the panel if Democrats retake the House. Frank announced Monday that he will not seek another term in the House. 

The California liberal is considered left of Frank, an architect of 2010’s Wall Street reform bill, on financial issues.

While banks and other financial institutions often battled Frank, he was seen as someone they could work with. Wall Street views Waters as more of an opponent.

“She's not a good face of the issues,” one financial executive said. “She's too much of a bomb thrower.”

Democratic leaders may look to someone other than Waters, the second-ranking Democrat on the panel, to take over for Frank.

Waters is wrestling with a long-running ethics investigation over whether she helped secure federal funding for a bank in which her husband owned stock and previously served as a board member. Waters has maintained her innocence, and two attorneys on the House ethics committee were placed on leave for mishandling the case. An outside attorney is now investigating the matter.

“They're going to go with people who are universally respected,” said the financial executive. But a trade group president and former Hill staffer believed the top spot is Waters's to lose. This source pointed out that Waters brings geographical and racial diversity to the committee.

Jumping over Waters to another Democrat would also be a headache for Democratic leaders because it would risk angering the Congressional Black Caucus.