Washington, D.C.— U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) will introduce legislation to make permanent President’s Trump Executive Order guaranteeing free and fair access to banking for all Americans, regardless of their political beliefs. The Executive Order, signed by President Trump on Thursday, takes aim the discriminatory practice of politicized debanking—where financial institutions deny or restrict services based on constitutionally protected viewpoints. The order echoes legislation Barr has introduced for multiple Congresses: the Fair Access to Banking Act. It also aligns with the FIRM Act, legislation authored by Barr and Senator Tim Scott, which would prohibit regulators from using so-called “reputational risk” to pressure banks into denying service to disfavored industries.
“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 Congressman Barr. “President Trump’s bold executive action is a major step forward—and now we’re going to make sure it becomes law.”
“President Trump’s Executive Order holds banks accountable for discriminating against conservatives and crypto through fines and other consequences for lenders that deny service to conservatives or customers due to their political affiliations or protected beliefs. This political discrimination – such as we saw with the Obama Administration’s ‘Operation Chokepoint’ – is unlawful, dishonest, and decreases trust in our banking institutions. The Executive Order also improves the supervisory process by stopping unelected regulators from using ‘reputational risk’ as a component of financial supervision and as a tool to target those who don’t align with their political agenda,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise. “Banks should be assessing legitimate financial risk – not the political views of hardworking and lawful individuals or businesses. I’m grateful to Congressman Andy Barr for leading the effort to codify the President’s Executive Order in the House and fighting to ensure every American gets a fair shake at the bank regardless of their political views.”
“The NRA applauds President Trump for his efforts to rein in both financial regulators and institutions who have refused services to constitutionally-protected industries for too long. All lawful industries have a right to access federally-secured financial services, but time and again we have seen anti-gun radicals weaponize this industry against Second Amendment Advocates and related businesses,” said John Commerford, Executive Director of NRA-ILA. “We also thank Representative Andy Barr for his longstanding leadership on this issue through bills like the “Fair Access to Banking Act’ which would prohibit financial institutions from discriminating against constitutionally protected industries, and the ‘FIRM Act,’ which would prohibit regulators from using ‘reputational risk’ to pressure the financial services industry into refusing service based on political or social factors.”
“NSSF wholeheartedly supports the effort led by Congressman Andy Barr to codify President Trump’s Executive Order prohibiting banking discrimination based on beliefs, affiliations or political views. There is no room in the American economy for unelected Wall Street bankers to decide winners-and-losers based solely on how individuals or entities choose to exercise their Constitutionally-protected rights,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Congressman Barr has been a true champion when it comes to battling banking discrimination. He sponsored the NSSF-supported Fair Access to Banking (FAB) Act and the Financial Integrity and Regulation Management (FIRM) Act. NSSF continues to urge Congress to act to put into law these protections against politically-motivated discrimination.”
"We at Solana Policy Institute strongly endorse Congressman Andy Barr's efforts to permanently enshrine banking fairness protections into federal law,” said Kristin Smith, President of Solana Policy Institute. “For too long, blockchain entrepreneurs and crypto ecosystem builders have faced inconsistent account decisions and service denials that have nothing to do with legitimate risk assessment. Rep. Barr understands that America's competitive advantage in the global digital economy depends on ensuring our most innovative companies have access to the traditional financial system. We look forward to supporting this vital reform through the legislative process."
“We applaud Congressman Andy Barr’s leadership in introducing legislation to codify President Trump’s Executive Order guaranteeing free and fair banking for all lawful businesses—including those in the crypto industry. By enshrining the EO’s requirement to eliminate “reputation risk” and mandate objective, risk-based analyses into law, Rep. Barr’s bill will ensure that crypto firms and their customers have lasting access to the banking system. We stand ready to work with Rep. Barr and his colleagues on this critical reform and secure America’s role as the global leader in financial technology,” said Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association.
“De-risking has been an ongoing challenge for our members who have experienced harmful disruptions to their small businesses after having bank accounts terminated with no explanation. We support this Executive Order, which complements the FIRM Act and Fair Access to Banking Act, as these measures would provide a balanced approach to ensure banking services are available to all lawful, regulated businesses/industries,” said Bill Dawson, President of the National Pawnbrokers Association.
The legislation Barr introduced to codify the Executive Order prohibits banks from denying services based on political or religious views for legally operating businesses. Some of the most targeted businesses and individuals of debanking in the past include:
- Firearms manufacturers and dealers legally operating under federal law
- Cryptocurrency firms facing account closures and restrictions without legitimate cause
- Energy companies, including coal and natural gas producers, cut off for not fitting a progressive ESG narrative
- Christian nonprofits, including one providing care to orphans and victims of sex trafficking, whose accounts were shuttered
- President Donald Trump was debanked by multiple banks following his first-term despite consistently being on the Forbes billionaire list and having great credit.
- Ambassador Sam Brownback, the former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, whose personal account was terminated by a major bank without explanation.
The Executive Order mandates that federal regulators eliminate the use of “reputation risk” in supervisory decisions and conduct a full review of past debanking practices. It also compels the Small Business Administration to notify and reinstate victims of unlawful debanking actions.