John Heltman is the Washington Bureau Chief for American Banker. John previously edited American Banker Magazine and is the creator of American Banker's narrative podcast Bankshot. He was awarded the Grand Neal, the top honor bestowed by the Jesse H. Neal Awards, in 2019 for his narrative podcast series Nobody’s Home, which examines the economic and social impact of concentrated vacant housing. He was also named the 2019 McAllister Editorial Fellow at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is a 2005 graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and lives in Baltimore, Md.
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Reports that the White House is considering naming Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the next chair of the Federal Reserve have raised eyebrows and speculation in Washington — especially in an administration with a penchant for assigning cabinet secretaries multiple jobs.
June 12 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Bank Policy Institute filed twin motions for summary judgement to strike down a 2024 agency rule for being arbitrary and capricious and exceeding statutory authority.
June 2 -
Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook said in a speech Friday that the market's response to recent volatility shows resilience, but more study is needed about the financial stability implications of business relationships between banks and nonbanks.
May 23 -
The Supreme Court blocked a lower court injunction reinstating two Democrats who had been fired without cause from the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board, explicitly holding that Federal Reserve Board members would not be affected by the case.
May 23 -
House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters joined fellow Democrats in introducing a bill barring the president, vice president, members of Congress or their families from owning so much of a cryptocurrency that they are able to influence the market.
May 22 -
The House Financial Services Committee passed bills to expedite bank merger review, limit the use of reputational risk in bank examinations and imposing timelines for supervisory determinations.
May 21 -
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will likely be asked about the economic fallout from President Trump's tariff rollout during his press conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
May 7 -
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy grew 177,000 jobs in April, beating expectations and giving the Federal Reserve little reason to adjust interest rates in the near term.
May 2 -
A budget bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee would eliminate the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and cap the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's budget at roughly $249 million.
April 30 -
By changing the form and function of the federal bureaucracy, questioning judicial review and launching a trade war, the president has injected uncertainty into a government built on predictability and process.
April 29
