
Claire Williams covers banking policy matters on Capitol Hill. She previously wrote about financial and economic policy for Morning Consult and earlier had stints at S&P Global and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Claire Williams covers banking policy matters on Capitol Hill. She previously wrote about financial and economic policy for Morning Consult and earlier had stints at S&P Global and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The Supreme Court won't consider Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka's case alongside a similar one involving the Federal Trade Commission when it hears oral arguments in early December.
GOP lawmakers say current thresholds subject regional lenders to overly stringent oversight designed for Wall Street giants
House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill, R-Ark., said he wants to consider a range of ideas on how to improve deposit insurance and other issues facing community banks beyond a Senate bill raising insurance for business accounts.
Travis Hill's nomination to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was recommended favorably by the Senate Banking Committee to the full Senate Wednesday morning in a 13-11 party-line vote.
Witnesses and lawmakers at a House Financial Services Committee hearing gave a more downcast view of a Senate deposit insurance reform proposal, with many House committee members expressing cost concerns.
The government shutdown is over, and Congress gets back to its regular business. For banks, the biggest-ticket issues are ongoing deliberations on raising deposit insurance and shaping a crypto market structure bill.
The House is slated to vote on a resolution to fund the government Wednesday morning, setting off the resumption of programs that are important — particularly for the smallest banks.
Voters across the country swung hard to the left in yesterday's off-cycle elections, showing an acute interest on affordability issues ahead of the 2026 midterms.
A bottleneck at the Small Business Administration in clearing federal small business loans because of the ongoing federal government shutdown is becoming an increasingly urgent issue for small and even some midsized banks.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Travis Hill, who has been tapped to lead the agency permanently by President Trump, for a report within 30 days about progress made in the agency's sexual harassment scandal, saying his vote is contingent on that report.
The Senate Banking Committee is slated to hear testimony from acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Travis Hill Thursday morning as he seeks to be confirmed to the role permanently.
A cohort of more than 100 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging the administration to protect and fund a community lending program that has been gutted despite its legal mandate and Bessent's backing.
At American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Banking Conference in New York City, former Most Powerful Women in Banking honorees said to build skills that you can take with you outside of a big bank, and that banks should reward risk-taking and building over incremental change.
Community banks and state banking groups are seeking structural reforms rather than a simple coverage increase.
Earlier in the day, Fed Gov. Stephen Miran chastised the Fed for wading into politics under the Biden administration, as he currently takes unpaid leave from President Donald Trump's top advisory council.
Treasury laid off all of its Community Development Financial Institution Fund staff on Friday, with the reduction in force notices saying that the department plans on abolishing the fund.
The Office of Management and Budget issued reduction in force notices to Treasury staff working in the Community Development Financial Institution office Friday, saying that the layoffs are necessary to "implement the abolishment" of the fund.
An updated deposit insurance reform bill from Sens. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., would raise deposit insurance for business accounts to $10 million, exclude the largest banks from coverage and insulate community banks from footing the bill.
A new interagency guidance clarifies when banks must report suspicious activity, easing compliance workloads and narrowing the reporting requirements to focus on higher-value cases.
House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., asked bank regulators to give banks the supervisory clearance to extend lines of credit and modify loan terms for federal employees furloughed after the government shut down last week.