What's Up Next on Capitol Hill? Comey, Obamacare, Wall Street Reform

WASHINGTON -- Congress returns from recess this week with a busy agenda. For starters, the House will vote on the Financial Choice Act, which is the Republican plan to reform Wall Street and rein in federal rules under the Dodd-Frank Act. 
 
"The Dodd-Frank Act was designed to grow the size of government exponentially—and it did. It has more rules and regulations than any other Obama-era law. But instead of instilling sensible regulation on the financial industry, it cozied the federal government up with big banks," said a written statement from House Speaker Paul Ryan's press office. 

"What was the effect? Big banks on Wall Street have gotten bigger, while putting untenable burdens on community banks across the country," the statement read.
 
Dodd-Frank was put in place in 2010 as a response to the financial crisis, but Republican members argue the Obama-era financial regulations do more harm than good, saying they stifle small business growth and slow U.S. economic recovery. 
 
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced the House will vote on the Financial Choice Act this week, saying, "Dodd-Frank has strangled community banks with red tape and needless compliance costs."

"In fact, approximately 1,900 banks, many of which were community financial institutions, have disappeared since Dodd-Frank became law," he said. "Whether you are opening a sandwich shop or looking to make improvements on your house, your access to capital shouldn't rest in the hands of just a few big banks."
 
If passed, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Financial Choice Act could cut the federal deficit by $24 billion over the next 10 years.
 
And in the Senate, GOP lawmakers continue to work on drafting their version of legislation that repeals and replaces Obamacare. 
 
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told local Texas radio last week to expect the Senate to pass a health care reform bill soon: "We'll get it done by the end of July at the latest," he vowed.
 
But other GOP members are not quite as optimistic. 

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told local news, "I don't see a comprehensive health care plan this year."

Burr says because of that "most of my time has been spent on figuring out solutions to Iowa losing all of its insurers, to Tennessee potentially losing theirs, to North Carolina having one insurer in 95 out of 100 counties, and things that we can bring to the table that both aid the insurance market or transition it to something that's life after the Affordable Care Act."
 
Burr, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, is also preparing for the highly anticipated public hearing from former FBI Director James Comey this Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

On Monday, the White House announced that President Donald Trump will not try to block testimony by the ousted FBI director.

"The president's power to assert executive privilege is well-established," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters. "However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony."

Comey is expected to be asked about many things, including the circumstances of his termination, whether or not he found evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign associates and Russia, and if President Trump asked him to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.