Senate Democrats on Wednesday requested an inspector general probe of the acting Securities and Exchange Commission chairman’s moves to reconsider Obama-era rules, and suggested the Republican may have overstepped his authority.
Banking Committee ranking member Sherrod Brown of Ohio joined with Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and two others in asking the SEC inspector general for an investigation into the past few months’ moves by Michael Piwowar.
Trump appointed Piwowar, an SEC commissioner since 2013, the acting chairman of the agency shortly after the inauguration. Trump’s selection for SEC chair, corporate lawyer Jay Clayton, still awaits Senate confirmation.
Since becoming acting chairman, Piwowar has moved to scale back a rule requiring corporations to disclose the use of conflict minerals, and sought new public input on a pay ratio disclosure rule that Democrats have backed. Both rules were required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
“We are concerned that Commissioner Piwowar’s actions may lack adequate justification, undermine the SEC’s mission, exceed his authority as Acting Chairman, violate other procedural requirements, and could potentially prove to be a waste of the SEC staff’s precious time and resources,” the senators wrote in the letter to inspector general Carl Hoecker.
While President Trump has stated that he hopes to undo many of the financial rules put in place by Obama, Senate Democrats have said they will oppose those efforts.
Also signing the letter were Sens. Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
