WASHINGTON: President Obama will have a tough task getting his bank reforms through Congress in the face of both Republican and Democratic scepticism, division and disarray, legislators signalled yesterday.

The new proposals are almost certain to be tacked on to a financial regulation bill that has been before Congress for almost a year. It was finally passed by the House last month but without a single Republican vote and with more than a score of Democrats opposed, and approval by the Senate will be even tougher to secure.

The White House views this as a win-win situation. If it gets a bill through that is tough on Wall Street, it hopes it will play well with the electorate: if the Republicans block it, the Democrats can portray them as pro-Wall Street. The problem with that strategy is that the Senate response will not be clear-cut. There are conservative Democrats who will not support many of the measures, while others still think Obama is not being radical enough.

In a sign of rebellion among Democrats in the Senate, some are threatening to vote against the re-appointment of White-house backed Bernard Bernanke, whose tenure as chairman of Federal Reserve ends this month.