Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregskibinski/1573240763/">Gregory.Skibinski</a>
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) may be flying solo today when he releases his own bill to rein in Wall Street, but a top GOP senator says he’s willing to meet Dodd “at least half way” on a bipartisan financial reform bill. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the banking committee’s ranking member, told CNBC a bipartisan deal could still be brokered between Dodd and Senate Republicans. Shelby, however, has also issued a warning to Dodd, the banking committee’s chairman, against rushing the legislation through Congress. In a letter from Senate GOPers sent to Dodd on Friday, Republicans wrote that “proposed timetable will not allow members sufficient time to fully understand the details of [the] legislative proposal.” Shelby similarly told CNBC that “we don’t believe you can rush [a financial reform bill] through.”
Shelby’s olive branch marks the latest offer in a months-long power struggle between Dodd and Senate Republicans. Dodd had initially begun his negotiations earlier this year with Shelby as his main partner. Those talks soon hit an “impasse,” and Dodd bumped Shelby for Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) as his new GOP dance partner. Last week, however, Dodd abruptly abandoned those talks—so near agreement were Dodd and Corker that the Tennessee senator said they were “at the five-yard line”—and announced he would be releasing his own version of financial reform today. Dodd’s much-awaited press conference is at 2 pm today, and we’ll have all the details of and reactions to Dodd’s new bill here.
