Meuser, Hill Expose Coordinated Debanking by Biden Administration

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (AR-02) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Dan Meuser (PA-09), released a final staff report titled “Operation Choke Point 2.0: Biden’s Debanking of Digital Assets.” The report exposes the Biden Administration’s coordinated effort to push digital asset businesses and individuals out of the U.S. financial system, reinventing a debanking practice that occurred under the Obama Administration and targeted those engaged in payday lending, firearm and ammunition sales, energy companies, and other politically disfavored groups.

Beginning in the 118th Congress, Committee Republicans investigated how federal regulators under the Biden Administration abused their authority, using vague rules, informal guidance, broad discretion, and aggressive enforcement to pressure financial institutions to cut off digital asset clients. These actions forced many companies to shut down or move operations overseas, threatening U.S. leadership and innovation in the digital asset market.

Key findings include:

• The Federal Reserve discouraged banks from engaging with digital asset firms through policy statements, supervisory letters, and the Novel Activities Supervision Program.
• The FDIC sent pause letters and issued extensive document requests, effectively halting bank engagement with digital asset activities.
• The OCC required institutions to obtain non-objection letters before engaging in digital asset activities.
• The SEC used regulation-by-enforcement tactics, in some cases exceeding statutory authority, targeting lawful digital asset activity.

Click here to view the full debanking report.

Subcommittee Chair Meuser said, “As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, our team worked under Chairman Hill’s direction to compile the first comprehensive accounting of how the Biden Administration used regulators to push lawful digital-asset firms and Americans out of the financial system. The evidence is clear: debanking was real, it was coordinated, and it harmed American workers, innovators, and our global competitiveness.”

“No American should lose access to financial services because a federal regulator dislikes their politics, their religion, or their lawful business activity,” Meuser continued. “That is fundamentally incompatible with a free society.”

“This report documents how Obama-era practices were revived and expanded under President Biden—through pause letters, informal pressure campaigns, and regulation-by-enforcement that forced U.S. companies offshore,” he added. “It also highlights the early leadership of President Trump, Secretary Bessent, Vice Chair Bowman, Comptroller Gould, and Acting Chair Hill in reversing this hostility and restoring fairness and clarity to bank supervision.”

“Our work is not finished,” Meuser concluded. “The Committee will continue working closely with the Trump Administration to end debanking once and for all. My SAFE Guidance Act and Rep. Barr’s FIRM Act, together with President Trump’s executive actions, provide a strong foundation. Now Congress must codify these protections into law so that an Operation Choke Point 3.0 can never happen.”

Chairman Hill said, “Targeting Americans over their political views erodes trust in the financial system and undermines the core freedoms our nation was founded on. The staff report released today summarizes Committee Republicans’ work and details how the Biden Administration’s regulators worked to debank the digital asset ecosystem. Under the leadership of President Trump, we’ve ushered in a new era for digital assets and look forward to reversing the damage done by the Biden Administration to prevent unlawful debanking.”

Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr (KY-06) stated, “The Committee’s report makes clear that Choke Point 2.0, an explicit, politically motivated attack on digital assets under the Biden Administration, was real and unacceptable. I commend Chairman Hill for spotlighting this issue. I will continue working to advance my bill that will permanently enshrine President Trump’s Executive Order protecting digital assets, Christian nonprofits, firearms manufacturers, energy producers, and other politically targeted industries from being debanked.”

Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence Subcommittee Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01) said, “Today’s report confirms what has been clear for years. The Biden-Harris Administration ran a targeted campaign to debank individuals in the digital asset ecosystem who were engaged in legal business activity the administration simply did not favor. Operation Choke Point 2.0 stalled Web3 innovation, drove jobs overseas, and needlessly politicized access to the banking system. I look forward to working with Chairman Hill, Subcommittee Chairman Meuser, and our colleagues to ensure this regulatory abuse cannot happen again.”