Meuser Bill Cracking Down on Abusive Agency Guidance Passes in Committee

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) announced that his bill, H.R. 4460, the Stop Agency Fiat Enforcement of Guidance (SAFE Guidance) Act, passed out of the House Financial Services Committee.

The SAFE Guidance Act ensures transparency and limits abuse of regulatory “guidance” by requiring financial agencies to include a clear disclaimer on the first page of any guidance document. This disclaimer must state that such guidance does not carry the force of law and that noncompliance does not constitute a legal violation.

“As we saw during Operation Chokepoint 2.0, Biden regulators have quietly used informal guidance to pressure banks into blacklisting lawful industries—from crypto to firearms dealers,” said Congressman Meuser during committee remarks. “This legislation takes a commonsense step to prevent that kind of abuse. Guidance should clarify—not coerce. It’s time we made clear that only Congress sets the law, not unelected regulators.”

The bill defines “guidance” as non-binding financial agency statements of general applicability and outlines nine federal financial agencies subject to the new requirement, including the Federal Reserve, FDIC, SEC, and CFPB.

Meuser added: “We’ve already passed bipartisan legislation like the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act to support fair, transparent regulation of emerging industries. The SAFE Guidance Act builds on that by ensuring regulators don’t undermine congressional intent through back channels.”

H.R. 4460 passed in committee 26 to 23. 

Congressman Meuser spoke in favor of the SAFE Guidance Act during debate in the Committee. Those remarks can be found here. 

The legislation now moves to the House floor for further consideration.

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