Debanking’s Real Culprit: Big Government, Not the Banks

Washington’s power over the financial system—not free markets—is driving politicized banking.

Hello Friends!

Fairness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. But when it comes to banking, who’s really calling the shots—the bankers serving customers, or the government pulling the strings?

President Trump’s new Executive Order on Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans takes aim at “debanking,” the practice of closing accounts for political or reputational reasons. That’s a worthy goal. No one should lose access to basic financial services because of their lawful business or beliefs.

In most cases, banks aren’t waking up one morning and deciding to cut customers for political points. They’re responding to a tangle of Washington regulators, political mandates, and legal threats. The free market isn’t the problem here—big government is. And unless we fix that, even well-intentioned orders like this risk making things worse.

Banks can be considered the middlemen of the economy. They connect people who have money with those who need it—whether it’s to start a business, buy a ho…