One of former President Donald Trump's fiercest champions on Capitol Hill is poised to become one of his most powerful allies on policy impacting Wall Street, housing and cryptocurrency. Sen. Tim Scott (R.-S.C.), who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination before becoming a high-profile surrogate, has a lock on the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee if control of the chamber flips. What's in store? Scott is less of a policy wonk than some of his Republican predecessors and peers in similar roles, like former Sen. Pat Toomey and retiring House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry. And Scott likely maintains bigger political ambitions — he's also gunning to lead the Senate Republicans' campaign arm, said a person with direct knowledge of the talks granted anonymity to speak candidly. But the former Allstate insurance agent is beginning to sketch out a wide-ranging agenda that's rooted in deregulation and framed around his signature message of economic “opportunity,” Scott spokesperson Ryann DuRant said. Scott, the only Black GOP senator, has a well-known personal story of his struggles growing up poor as the child of a single mother. Scott is far from being a populist in the mold of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). But as a lawmaker who’s not rigidly guided by conservative economic policy, Scott has found spots over the years to buck others in his party on contentious banking committee issues. He delivered a major win for big business in 2017 when he helped block Trump's uber-conservative pick to lead the Export-Import Bank, amid concerns that the nominee would tank financing for U.S. exporters. Last year, he partnered with Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to approve legislation that would impose stronger penalties on the executives of failed banks. “Of course, he’s pushing back on regulations, but he hasn’t been an ideologue or unconditional friend to the financial services industry," said Healthy Markets CEO Tyler Gellasch, a former aide to Democrats in Congress and the SEC. In recent weeks, Scott has signaled that he sees value in the party's new populist direction — "the expansion of the Republican tent," as he calls it — but that he's got more in common with his GOP's free-traders. "I'm one of them, no question about it," he said on CNBC earlier this month. MM has a preview of Scott's priorities, according to current and former aides, as well as other Capitol Hill and K Street sources: Housing — Scott has been a longtime advocate for boosting the supply of affordable housing by streamlining regulations. Scott plans to revisit that goal as chair, DuRant said. He wants to advance legislation he introduced last month that would overhaul various HUD policies, including by allowing more private investment in affordable housing and expanding a program that ties affordable housing to work requirements. Crypto — Scott was a "blank slate" on digital asset policy when he became the top Republican on Senate Banking. But, like Trump, he's become a more vocal supporter of the crypto world this year. He wants to prioritize work on the type of regulatory overhaul that the industry has long sought. “The senator will work to build a regulatory framework that establishes a reliable pathway for the trading and custody of digital assets that will promote consumer choice, education and protection and ensure compliance with appropriate Bank Secrecy Act requirements,” DuRant said. Investing — DuRant said Scott would want to advance a bill he introduced last month that would allow more people to invest in privately held companies, in part by lowering the "accredited investor” threshold for investments subject to less-stringent transparency requirements. Scott has also been a critic of SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the agency's climate disclosure rule. Banking — Separately, Scott is eyeing a banking policy framework that could tackle priorities like regulatory rollbacks, agency oversight and financial literacy, said three people with direct knowledge of the plan granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. Scott's expected approach has financial watchdogs gearing up for a fight. “A Republican chairmanship for the Senate Banking Committee will be great for crypto, dark markets, nonbanks and Wall Street executives, but bad for Main Street investors, consumers and financial stability, all of which will be threatened by yet more dangerous and mindless deregulation," Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher said. HAPPY HALLOWEEN — Send your money-related costumes to your host at emueller@politico.com and @eleanor_mueller and, if you’re lucky, I’ll return the favor. As always, Hill tricks or treats are welcome, too (including on Signal). ICYMI, former Money Morning host and current financial services editor Zachary Warmbrodt is headed for a new role at POLITICO overseeing its Congress coverage as executive producer. That wraps a dozen years on the financial services beat (though he assures us he couldn’t go far if he tried). Send him your congratulations at zwarmbrodt@politico.com and @zachary (which, yes, remains D.C.’s most envied Twitter handle).
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