To get a handle on events they have only been able to see from the sidelines, Capitol Hill lawmakers are filling in their calendar with hearings examining the actions taken by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to combat the meltdown on Wall Street.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd was forced to cancel Sept. 16 and 18 hearings on the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the state of the commercial banking industry because his primary witnesses were, um, tied up trying to stem further collapse of the capital markets. Now, he'll try to tackle the whole mess in one hearing Sept. 23. On the House side, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman have divided their examinations of the economic mess. Waxman will hold forensic hearings exhuming what went wrong in financial practice and regulation to get us to this sorry state. Frank will take the lead examining how to fix things. After the jump is a calendar of the next two weeks of hearings. - Bill McConnell
Continue reading below
Tues., Sept. 23, 10 a.m.
The Senate Banking Committee examines the turmoil in U.S. credit markets, including the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, responses to investment banks' woes, and troubles at commercial banks and other financial institutions. The witness list isn't formalized, but barring any market turmoil expect Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Fedreal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart III.
Wed., Sept. 24
House Financial Services Committee takes a broad look the crisis with a hearing examining ways to prevent future meltdowns and whether the federal government needs additional capacity to intervene in troubled financial markets. Former government officials, economists, and academics are expected to testify.
Thurs., Sept. 25, noon
The House Financial Service Committee follows Dodd with another hearing on Fannie and Freddie.
Mon. and Tues., Oct. 6 and Oct. 7
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holds two days of hearings to examine the regulatory environment and financial excesses that led to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers holdings Inc. and the government seizure of American International Group INc. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, not shy about using hearings as partisan theater, blamed "lax oversight and reckless investments" for the current troubles and promised the hearings "will examine what went wrong and who should be held to account." Lehman CEO Richard Fuld will testify Oct. 6, and former AIG CEO Robert B. Willumstad and his predecessors Martin J. Sullivan and Maurice R. Greenberg are expected the following day.
