US President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is exploring ways to significantly reduce, merge or even eliminate top banking regulators in Washington, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Trump advisers and officials from the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) inquired about the possibility of abolishing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), according to the newspaper.
Advisers have asked nominees under consideration for the FDIC, as well as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), whether deposit insurance could be absorbed by the Treasury Department, the Journal said. , adding that any proposal to eliminate the FDIC or any agency would require congressional action.
Trump’s transition team, the FDIC, the OCC and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Trump has named two businessmen — Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — to the task force planning a sweeping overhaul of the US administration, which spent $6.8 trillion in the most recent fiscal year.
Musk and Ramaswamy will co-lead DOGE, an entity that Trump has indicated will operate outside the confines of the government.
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Trump advisers want to reduce or eliminate US banking regulators
Potential banking regulator candidates have interviewed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the new Department of Government Efficiency, according to the report.
Billionaire Elon Musk, charged last month by Trump with cutting state spending, called for the elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), further amplifying the influence of the richest man in the world. world, who donated millions of dollars to help Trump get elected.
Trump advisers and potential candidates have also discussed plans to combine or otherwise restructure the top federal banking regulators: the FDIC, the OCC and the Federal Reserve, the WSJ report added.
In a separate plan that has been floated with the transition team, the FDIC, the OCC and parts of the Federal Reserve would not merge, but only one of them would continue to regulate banks, the newspaper said, citing a person familiar with the plan. issue, adding that the other agencies would retain only non-regulatory staff.
At the CFPB, consumer education positions could replace regulatory and supervisory positions, according to the information.
The Journal further added that under any plan, significant job cuts are likely, and Trump is expected to reinstate an executive order that made it easier to lay off some federal workers, known as “Schedule F.”
Stricter return-to-office policies are also being discussed that could prompt workers to leave.
With information from Reuters.
