Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a top GOP negotiator on the Senate’s financial reform bill, says the odds for a bipartisan bill are “still very, very good.” In remarks to reporters today, Corker, who spent weeks this winter as the top GOP negotiator alongside Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), added that while no agreement between the two parties had been reached—and that differences remained within the parties as well—he was still optimistic about passing a financial reform bill with bipartisan support.
Asked about reports of an alternative GOP financial reform bill, Corker seemed to scoff at the idea, saying he was “not sure about that” and hadn’t seen the bill yet. The day’s financial-related happenings will come to a head around 5 pm, when the full Senate has a cloture vote (a vote to begin debate on the bill). Democrats and Republicans have spent much of the day in closed-door negotiations trying to resolve differences on the bill. Those disagreements concern parts of the bill on unwinding too-big-to-fail banks and regulating derivatives, the complex financial products that amplified the housing meltdown and spread losses throughout the global economy. But there haven’t been any breakthroughs reported yet, setting the stage for a party line vote this evening in which 59 Democrats are anticipated to vote for beginning debate and 41 Republicans will block that debate.
