Barney Frank, liberal icon who regulated a ‘too big’ financial industry, dies at 86

By Michael Williams, Jeanne Sahadi, CNN

(CNN) — Barney Frank, the barrier-breaking former Massachusetts congressman who helped draft reforms that sought to rein in an unruly financial industry in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, has died. He was 86.

His sister Doris Breay confirmed his death to CNN, saying, “he was a wonderful brother. I was lucky to be his sister. I will miss him.”

Frank entered hospice care earlier this year where he underwent treatment for congestive heart failure, according to media reports.

The former congressman built a reputation on Capitol Hill for being an outspoken progressive stalwart. He was also the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay. Frank’s decision to publicly disclose his sexuality in 1987 made him the most prominent gay man in Washington during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

While many thought it could be a political career-ender at the time, Frank would later say he regretted he did not come out sooner.

“I am a much better openly gay man than I was a closeted one,” he told Men’s Journal in a 2017 interview.

Frank advocated for LGBTQ causes throughout his career and was instrumental in helping repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy prohibiting gay servicemembers from openly serving in the military. In 2012, he became the first sitting member of Congress to marry a partner of the same sex while in office.

Legislatively, he made arguably his biggest mark in the world of finance. He became the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee in 2003, and in 2007, became the committee’s chairman. His position put him at the center of the congressional response to the subprime mortgage crisis that led to the greatest global financial meltdown since the Great Depression. Frank pushed for greater regulation of banks and stronger consumer protections to avoid a repeat of the debacle.

He also backed the federal bailout of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which included a line of credit the government sponsored entities could tap, if needed.

“We are putting the money there … saying we know that we’re taking steps so that they’re not going to face this problem in the future,” Frank told CNN in mid-July 2008.

“Fannie and Freddie suffered not from their own decisions, but from the bad mortgage decisions that have been made throughout the economy. We’re not going to have those in the future. So, it is not simply hoping, it is taking action to make it less likely that they’ll be the problem,” he said.

Frank was a chief architect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010.

Dodd-Frank established the framework for banking regulation and consumer protection as we know them today. The law’s aim was to introduce greater oversight of financial institutions, especially those judged to be “too big to fail.” It established new liquidity requirements and stress tests for banks; as well as the Volcker Rule, which limits banks’ ability to make risky investments with customer deposits.

Dodd-Frank also created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which was charged with preventing financial abuse and standing up for consumers in the financial sector.

Since then, many Dodd-Frank provisions have been challenged in court and in Congress, and Republicans have sought to roll back many financial services regulations, including dismantling the CFPB.

With a larger-than-life personality, Frank’s sharp tongue and sarcastic wit made him sought after by journalists and, even after his retirement from Congress in 2013, a regular on the political talk show circuit. His autobiography was published in 2015, and another book, “The Hard Path to Unity: Why We Must Reform the Left to Rescue Democracy,” is scheduled to be released later this year.

His frequent TV appearances made Frank a recognizable figure in American politics, and he continued to be vocal well into his 80s.

In a recent interview on CNN, Frank had criticized the Democratic Party for not being strategic with their messaging on social issues and for not focusing on more centrist positions.

He told CNN’s Jake Tapper progressives “make a mistake by taking the most controversial parts of the agenda and turning them into litmus tests.”

Tributes poured in for the former congressman after his death. Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III said he had known he was filling “extraordinarily big shoes” when he took over as congressman for Massachusetts’ 4th district in 2013, calling Frank “one of the great public servants of our time.”

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said Frank was a “trailblazer.”

“At a time when being openly gay in public service could cost you everything, he chose visibility,” Robinson said.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was the first openly gay Cabinet secretary, said he was not sure he would have “had the chance to serve if Barney Frank hadn’t demonstrated that courage, commitment, and skill can matter more than others’ imagination about what voters are ‘ready’ for.”

CNN’s Kaanita Iyer and Lauren Chadwick contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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