A week before the 2022 midterm elections, the ranking members of four important committees of the House of Representatives composed and jointly signed a letter to Gary Gensler, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, demanding answers to a number of important questions. The ranking members—the most senior members of each committee from the minority party—were Jim Jordan (R-OH)) of the Committee on the Judiciary, Patrick McHenry (R-NC) of the Committee on Financial Services, James Comer (R-KY) of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Tom Emmer (R-MN) of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Financial Services.

Since the Republicans won the House in the midterms–though by only a few seats, not in the Red Wave they’d hoped for—those four congressmen will become chairmen of their committees in January 2023. They’ll wield more power and influence than they have in the past four years and perhaps find themselves in a position to achieve some of their goals. They’re likely to increase past efforts to prevent what they see as excessive regulation of our financial markets. As we shall see, they object to Gensler’s interest in regulation and rulemaking and would, for the most part, like to see him thwarted.