Any repeal (piecemeal or otherwise), or delay, of the disaster that is Dodd-Frank is welcome news.
While as a whole Dodd-Frank is a disaster, the Volcker Rule was widely supported by many in the Tea Party and by good government activists on the left and right for the exact reasons pointed out by the NY Times Editorial Board. I say that as a retired former CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner.
The Volker Rule was designed to prevent wholesale fraud and thanks to lobbying by Obama at the last minute it got re-written by Citigroup lobbyists! The Fed then doubled down on what happened in Congress, apparently!
So in my opinion the repeal of the Volcker Rule is a disaster, even if it happened to be included a bait to get conservatives to vote for the rest of the stinking pile of Dodd-Frank!