2026年5月20日 上午10:04 ET / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：迈克尔·威廉姆斯、珍妮·萨哈迪
更新于2026年5月20日 上午10:17 ET
巴尼·弗兰克，这位打破壁垒的前国会议员，曾在2008年全球金融危机后牵头起草改革法案，试图整顿失控的金融业，现已去世，享年86岁。
他的妹妹多丽丝·布里向CNN确认了死讯，说道：“他是一位极好的兄长，能成为他的妹妹我很幸运。我会想念他。”
据媒体报道，弗兰克今年早些时候已入住临终关怀机构，接受充血性心力衰竭的治疗。
这位前国会议员在国会山以直言不讳的进步派坚定支持者形象闻名。他也是第一位自愿公开出柜的国会议员。弗兰克1987年公开性取向的决定，让他成为艾滋病疫情高峰期华盛顿最知名的同性恋者。
当时许多人认为这会终结他的政治生涯，但弗兰克后来表示，他后悔没有更早出柜。
“作为一名公开出柜的同性恋者，我比 closet 状态时要好得多，”他在2017年接受《男士期刊》采访时说道。
弗兰克在职业生涯中始终为 LGBTQ 权益发声，并在废除“不问不说”政策——禁止同性恋军人公开服役——的过程中发挥了关键作用。2012年，他成为首位在任期间与同性伴侣结婚的国会议员。
在立法方面，他在金融领域留下了 arguably 最大的印记。2003年，他成为众议院金融服务委员会资深少数党成员，2007年出任该委员会主席。这一职位让他身处国会应对次贷危机的核心，这场危机引发了自大萧条以来最严重的全球金融崩溃。弗兰克推动加强对银行的监管和更有力的消费者保护，以避免重演这场灾难。
他还支持联邦政府救助抵押贷款巨头房利美和房地美，其中包括为这两家政府支持企业提供必要时可动用的信贷额度。
“我们正在投入资金……表明我们知道自己正在采取措施，确保它们未来不会面临这类问题，”弗兰克在2008年7月中旬接受CNN采访时说道。
“房利美和房地美遭遇困境并非源于自身的决策，而是源于整个经济中出现的糟糕抵押贷款决策。我们未来不会再出现这种情况。因此，这不仅仅是一厢情愿，而是采取行动，降低它们再次成为问题的可能性，”他说道。
弗兰克是《多德-弗兰克华尔街改革与消费者保护法案》的主要起草者之一，该法案于2010年由巴拉克·奥巴马总统签署生效。
《多德-弗兰克法案》为我们如今熟知的银行业监管和消费者保护框架奠定了基础。该法案旨在加强对金融机构的监管，尤其是那些被判定为“大而不能倒”的机构。它为银行设立了新的流动性要求和压力测试；还有沃尔克规则，限制银行用客户存款进行高风险投资的能力。
《多德-弗兰克法案》还设立了消费者金融保护局（CFPB），负责防范金融欺诈，维护金融领域消费者的权益。
自那以来，《多德-弗兰克法案》的多项条款在法庭和国会遭到挑战，共和党人一直试图撤销众多金融监管规定，包括解散消费者金融保护局。
弗兰克性格张扬，言辞犀利、富有讽刺意味的机智让他深受记者追捧，即便在2013年从国会退休后，他也经常出现在政治脱口秀节目中。他的自传于2015年出版，另一部著作《走向团结的艰难道路：为何我们必须改革左翼以拯救民主》计划于今年晚些时候发行。
他频繁亮相电视节目，让弗兰克成为美国政坛家喻户晓的人物，即便年逾八旬，他依然直言不讳。
在最近一次CNN采访中，弗兰克批评民主党在社会问题的信息传递上缺乏策略，也没有聚焦更温和的立场。
他告诉CNN主播杰克·塔珀，进步派“犯了一个错误，将议程中最具争议的部分变成了必守的试金石”。
CNN的卡安妮塔·艾耶和劳伦·查德威克为本报道贡献了内容。
本故事已更新，补充了更多信息。
Barney Frank, liberal icon who regulated a ‘too big’ financial industry, dies at 86
May 20, 2026 10:04 AM ET / CNN
By Michael Williams, Jeanne Sahadi
Updated May 20, 2026, 10:17 AM ET
In this May 1980 photo, Barney Frank waits for signatures to the National Rep. petition at the Newton bus stop on Winter Street in downtown Boston.
Ted Dully/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
Barney Frank, the barrier-breaking former 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.
Then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi greets former Rep. Barney Frank during a bill enrollment ceremony after the House passed the Respect for Marriage Act in the US Capitol on Thursday, December 8, 2022. The bill mandates federal protection for same-sex marriages.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images
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.
Former Rep. Barney Frank speaks during a bill enrollment ceremony after the House passed the Respect for Marriage Act in the US Capitol on Thursday, December 8, 2022.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images
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.”
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer and Lauren Chadwick contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.