Last October, as voting was already underway in the 2018 midterm elections, Republicans in Congress went on the attack against potential incoming Democratic committee chairs. Foremost among the attackers was now-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Foremost among the attacked was now-House Financial Services Chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., whom McCarthy singled out as a troublemaker on Fox News that same month.
Maybe McCarthy was trying to motivate less-likely-to-vote backers of President Trump who had a particular disdain for Waters and prevent them from sending a Democratic majority to Congress via inaction. Just as likely, he was trying to gin up fears in the financial sector of a Waters takeover, potentially to spur extra donations from that sector to Republicans. But in any event, the effort failed, and now with Waters firmly installed, one possible reason is becoming clear: It turns out that the financial services sector, writ large, just isn’t as terrified of Waters as you might expect.
