Santelli Blames Financial Regulation Vote for Dow Drop: 'What Are They Doing in Washington?'

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) taking another tumble of 376 points on May 20, some investors are pointing to problems in Europe for the sell-off. However, there may be problems at home as well.

CNBC's CME Group floor reporter Rick Santelli explained on the May 20 broadcast of "Closing Bell" it had a lot to do with the Europe and the Euro, however it isn't all coming from abroad.

"Well, a couple of things," Santelli said. Well, first of all, if you look at the high-grades, they widened out with the high-yields widened out more today at levels today that are wider than the day of the flash crash. That's ‘a.' And ‘b,' you know Maria, we have a 1.2511 on the Euro. This is so much more than just focusing on the Euro."

The other problem - it is the vote for cloture in the Senate, which all but ensures passage of financial regulation, creating a lot of uncertainty for investors.

"We were down 192 and we talked about it when the headline came out, they're going to pass that tonight, and breaking news on CNBC, and we then subsequently dropped 200 points. A lot of today's action, not all of it, but a lot of the late action is because of fin-reg is scratch your head. The markets are deleveraging on their own. What are they doing in Washington?"

And "Closing Bell" host Maria Bartiromo agreed.

"I think it's the right point to make," Bartiromo added.