Sen. Mike Crapo’s power soars in U.S. Senate. Last year, Sen. Crapo was the No. 2 Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Under Senate GOP rules, Chair Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby was term limited and Crapo last week acquired the chairman’s gavel.
He is likely to be in the hot seat. The committee has jurisdiction over a wide array of issues, besides its core topic area of banking, including oversight of the Federal Reserve System, export policy, housing policy and urban mass transit.
Crapo is expected to push for modification of the Dodd-Frank Act to reduce the regulatory burden on community banks. Many Idaho banks complain that policies designed to target massive banks excessively impacts them. He has in the past sponsored legislation to unwind the federal conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the primary secondary purchasers of most home loans in the U.S.
Any export sanctions on Russia would likely move through his committee. And, he will be under pressure to move legislation to audit and/or restrict policymaking by the Federal Reserve. Trump’s infrastructure plan will also significantly impact urban transportation, another committee area.
In addition, Crapo is joining the Senate Judiciary Committee which handles judicial appointments, including a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court pick and the nomination of Pocatello’s David Nye to Idaho’s open federal District Court position.
Sen. Jim Risch also gets a chairmanship. Risch is the new chair of the Senate Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee. Jurisdiction primarily focuses on the U.S. Small Business Administration.
He also sits on the Select Committee on Intelligence which is front and center dealing with Trump’s clashes with the U.S. intelligence community. He is also on Foreign Relations and Energy and Natural Resources. Foreign Relations will play a role in evaluating the U.S. approach to Russia, North Korea and other hot spots. Energy and Natural Resources will tackle public lands issues, including land management and fire issues.