Tim Geithner met immediate resistance to his regulatory reform package on Capitol Hill yesterday, at the start of what promises to be a lengthy sales pitch to protect the white paper from critics in Congress.
At a Senate hearing, the Treasury secretary defended his proposal to grant new systemic risk regulation powers to the Federal Reserve, an issue that is vulnerable to being overturned by sceptical lawmakers.
“You cannot convene a committee to put out a fire,” Mr Geithner told the Senate banking committee, insisting the Fed was the best body to guard against risks in a large institution that could pollute the entire financial system.