WASHINGTON–Just days after President Trump issued an executive order calling for an end to “debanking” (as the CU Daily reported here), Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) said he will introduce legislation to make the executive order permanent.
The executive order takes aim any discriminatory practice of “politicized debanking” in which a financial institution denies or restricts services based on a customer’s/member’s viewpoint.
Barr has previously introduced similar legislation in earlier sessions of Congress, including the Fair Access to Banking Act. Barr said the EO also aligns with the FIRM Act, legislation he authored along with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), which would prohibit regulators from using so-called “reputational risk” to pressure banks into denying service to certain industries.
‘Woke Discrimination’
“From Operation Chokepoint under the Obama-Biden administration to recent examples of religious groups, firearms manufacturers, and even energy companies being debanked, the American people have had enough of woke discrimination from Wall Street and weaponized regulators,” said Barr in a statement.
Credit union trade groups have issued statements of support for the executive order.
