Victoria Finkle

WASHINGTON -- The new year is less than a week old, but lawmakers are already rapidly running out of time if they want to forge ahead on key initiatives such as housing finance reform in 2014.

Lawmakers are expected to forge ahead on several key initiatives in the New Year, including housing finance reform -- but must move quickly in the early part of 2014 before legislative action grinds to a halt ahead of the mid-term elections in November.

Massachusetts' freshman senator, one year in.

According to many, 2013 was meant to be the year that policymakers made technical corrections to the Dodd-Frank Act. But that didn't happen — and may not occur in 2014 either. Here's why.

The Senate voted 59-34 Friday to end debate on the nomination of Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging regulators to reconsider a provision in the recently finalized Volcker rule that they warn could harm community banks that own trust-preferred securities.

A group of Democratic senators introduced legislation Tuesday that would prohibit employers from requiring applicants to disclose their credit history as part of the hiring process.

Senate Banking Committee leaders reiterated their optimism Wednesday for forging a bipartisan housing finance reform plan, but offered little additional detail on when legislation will emerge.

The Senate confirmed Rep. Mel Watt Tuesday evening to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, thanks to a historic filibuster rule change launched by Democrats late last month.

Rep. Mel Watt cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate Tuesday toward becoming the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, with a final confirmation vote to come as early as this afternoon.

WASHINGTON — With just a couple of weeks left before Congress takes a holiday recess, lawmakers are stepping up efforts to deter frivolous patent lawsuits against credit unions, banks and a host of other companies.

With just two weeks left before Congress takes a holiday recess, lawmakers are stepping up efforts to deter frivolous patent lawsuits against banks and a host of other companies.

Lawmakers debated draft legislation aimed at reducing duplicative or inconsistent bank regulations on Wednesday, though the bipartisan effort is already drawing some criticism from Democrats.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging big banks to voluntarily disclose their contributions to think tanks, arguing that donations could influence policymaking.

The Senate Banking Committee is making progress toward drafting legislation to overhaul the mortgage finance market, but one of the biggest unresolved issues is how much skin in the game private market participants must have in return for a government guarantee.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging regulators to strengthen their supplemental leverage ratio in order to help eliminate concerns over "too big to fail."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally made good on longstanding threats to alter chamber rules on executive nominations, likely paving the way for controversial White House nominees to win confirmation — including Rep. Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The House Financial Services Committee passed six bills on Thursday to alter various aspects of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance Janet Yellen's nomination to head the Federal Reserve on Thursday, with several lawmakers breaking party lines.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers dove headlong into the growing debate over virtual currencies like Bitcoin this week, with back-to-back hearings in the Senate.