Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, both Republicans, will vote against proposed sweeping federal financial regulatory reforms, joining Rep. Travis Childers in creating unanimous Northeast Mississippi congressional opposition to the measure backed by the Obama administration.

A vote in the Senate is expected late this week. The 2,300-page measure passed the House in late June, 237-192, with Childers opposing it.

Late Tuesday, Wicker issued a statement saying he would oppose the bill because it does not reform agencies that helped cause the economic crisis, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and credit rating firms.

The legislation, he said, will lead to "increased interest rates, tightened credit, and more regulatory burdens on Main Street banks that did not contribute to the economic disaster we experienced in 2008."

Cochran, like Wicker, said Tuesday he would vote against the conference report because it "goes well beyond reining in the abusive practices on Wall Street that led to a national financial crisis."

"I would have preferred a reform proposal that targeted Wall Street's problems without affecting local businesses whose credit activities are not contributing to the problem," he said.

The conference committee report includes changes from earlier versions that have persuaded three Senate Republicans - Scott Brown of Massachusetts, and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine - to support the bill, ensuring a filibuster-proof 60 votes.

Childers said he voted against the bill because it would have put at risk billions of taxpayers' dollars in the Trouble Asset Relief Program.

"Its provision to use $11 billion of TARP funding instead of requiring big banks to pay for their own mistakes lets Wall Street off the hook," he said.

The Senate's leadership could schedule a vote on short notice, and The Washington Post reported that some senators want the measure sent to the president before the weekend.

Contact Joe Rutherford at (662) 678-1597 or joe.rutherford@djournal.com.