House Republican compares SEC chair to Tonya Harding for ‘kneecapping’ capital markets

Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) slammed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday, accusing him of “kneecapping” U.S. capital markets with a multitude of regulatory proposals.

“You’re right. We are ‘blessed with the largest, most sophisticated, most innovative capital markets in the world,'” Barr said during Gensler’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, quoting from the chairman’s opening statement.

“But we cannot take this for granted. Even a gold medalist must keep training,” Barr continued.

“With all due respect, Mr. Chairman, if the U.S. capital markets are a gold medalist, you are the Tonya Harding of securities regulation because you are kneecapping the U.S. capital markets with the avalanche of red tape coming out of your commission,” he said.

Republicans have repeatedly sparred with Gensler over the SEC’s rulemaking proposals throughout his tenure as chairman.

Wednesday’s hearing on SEC oversight marks Gensler’s second appearance before Congress this month. Gensler faced a grilling by GOP lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs two weeks earlier.

Beyond criticizing the pace at Gensler which has sought to advance various rules, Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about a proposed rule that would bar firms from using predictive data analytics and similar technologies, including artificial intelligence, in a way that puts their interests above those of investors.

A proposed climate disclosure rule, which would require companies to provide information about climate-related risks for investors, has also drawn the ire of members on the right.

Climate rule remains point of contention

Barr suggested on Wednesday that the aim of the climate disclosure rule was to “redirect capital away from” and “discriminate against” fossil energy.

“Let’s be honest, we know what’s going on,” the Kentucky Republican said. “You’re trying to scarlet letter fossil energy. I know you say you’re not. But we got the joke. Everybody knows what you’re doing.”

Gensler repeatedly emphasized throughout the hearing that the SEC does not seek to act as a “climate regulator.”

“We’re not a climate regulator,” he said. “It’s a matter of investors making investment choices. And for some companies, investors are getting disclosures, and we’re trying to bring some comparability to [those] disclosures.”

“Right now, 80-plus percent of the top thousand companies are already making disclosures,” Gensler added. “It’s really on our responsibility to bring some consistency and comparability for investors to get decision useful information.”

Government shutdown looms

With a potential government shutdown looming over Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) used Barr’s “kneecapping” comment to take aim at House Republicans’ role in holding up stopgap funding measures.

“In light of the colorful questioning and use of language with ‘discrimination’ and ‘kneecapping,’ I want to ask you about the shutdown because I think my Republican colleagues are kneecapping the American people and those who serve this country and those that we took an oath to protect,” Beatty said to Gensler.

The SEC chairman said his commission would be working with a “skeletal staff” while other employees would be furloughed during a shutdown.

Beatty pointed to the SEC employees as examples of the “hard-working American people with families and children” that would be “kneecapped by my Republican colleagues” in the event of a shutdown.