Inside the Beltway

Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation to overturn a 2024 final rule updating the process the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency uses to review proposed bank mergers. Read on »

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is considering actions banking industry professionals frequently describe as “right-sizing” the regulatory framework applied to financial institutions. During the 2025 American Bankers Association Summit in Washington, D.C., FDIC acting director French Hill discussed the potential for easing capital standards for the largest and most complex institutions, as well as the impact volatile market conditions may have on the banking sector. Read on »

Real estate finance professionals welcomed the reintroduction of legislation in the House and Senate aimed at eradicating the use of trigger leads in the real estate marketplace. The bills are the latest in a long series of bipartisan attempts to do so over the past half decade. Read on »

A bipartisan coalition of senators wrote to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing their support for the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which a recent executive order from President Donald Trump called for eliminating. Read on »

The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the Trump administration’s picks to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Securities Exchange Commission in a pair of 13-11 party-line votes. Read on »

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it will not prioritize enforcement or supervisory actions with respect to certain aspects of its final rule regulating payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment loans. Read on »

The Senate passed a resolution to nullify the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule capping overdraft fees offered by financial institutions in a 52-48 party-line vote. The legislation will now need the approval of the full House to then be forwarded to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. Read on »

The Trump administration’s dismissal of the Federal Trade Commission’s two democratic members will likely lead to a lawsuit with the potential to reach the Supreme Court, according to legal experts. Read on »

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule prohibiting lenders from considering medical debt and medical bills in consumer crediting decisions is the subject of a Congressional Review Act resolution seeking to nullify the rule. Read on »

Community bankers from across the country are urging Congress to include the bipartisan Access to Credit for our Rural Economy Act (ACRE), S.838, in the FairTax Act of 2025. The ACRE aims to improve credit access and lower borrowing costs for farmers, ranchers and rural homebuyers. Read on »