The Journal said the accounting industry coalition, comprised of the AICPA, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, is concerned that Andersen's "damaged reputation is tarnishing the group's ability to effectively lobby Capitol Hill and that reforms under consideration by the firm could go far beyond what the rest of the industry is willing to accept."

Andersen is currently under scrutiny due its involvement in Enron's collapse. Andersen has taken many steps to recover from the blow, which include appointing Paul Volcker to its independent oversight board, halting assignments from publicly traded U.S. audit clients for the design and implementation of financial information systems, and no longer accepting engagements to provide internal audit services to publicly traded U.S. audit clients.

"Arthur Andersen is in the middle of a firestorm," Vin Weber of Clark & Weinstock, the lobbying firm hired by the coalition, told the WSJ. "For the near term, the coalition and Andersen will pursue separate paths."

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