Day One: Markup of Various Measures

Committee on Banking and Currency

2025-07-22

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Source: Congress.gov

Summary

The meeting of the financial committee focused on discussing and voting on several bills aimed at reforming financial regulations and practices. The topics ranged from the potential phase-out of the penny to modernizing banking examination processes and addressing concerns within federal agencies.

Themes

Tone of the Meeting

The meeting maintained a largely professional and respectful tone throughout, even during debates on contentious issues. While several bills, such as the "TRUST Act" and the "Bringing the Discount Window into the 21st Century Act," received clear bipartisan support and collaboration,[ 00:40:58 ]

others like the "FDIC Board Accountability Act" and the "Stop Agency Fiat Enforcement of Guidance Act" sparked more partisan disagreement. Despite these differences, members generally expressed appreciation for colleagues' efforts and engaged in substantive discussions before voting on the proposed legislation and amendments.[ 00:02:25 ] [ 00:40:58 ] [ 01:19:13 ]

Participants

Transcript

But as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have already expressed, simply eliminating the penny without a well-crafted plan for the orderly phase-out of the penny won't accomplish that goal and could actually make things worse. As it stands, there's been no time provided for states, retailers, or consumers to prepare for a penniless economy. We need to do that responsibly and thoughtfully. While I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues, Congresswoman McLean and Congressman Lucas, in getting the Common Sense Act into the place it is today, I do have some concerns with the current text. In order to discuss those concerns, Would my colleague and friend Congressman Lucas be willing to engage in a colloquy with me regarding the Common Sense Act?

Absolutely, I would be pleased to.

Well, thank you. One of my concerns, Congressman Lucas and committee members, is surrounding the current version of the Common Sense Act is that it does not provide for a plan for the orderly withdrawal of the penny from circulation, which I believe is essential for minimizing disruptions from this momentous policy change. Additionally, while I greatly appreciate the fact that this bill seeks to change the composition of the nickel to lower costs, I would like to see technical changes to the composition requirements of the nickel to require a tighter weight specification that narrows the electronic signature and makes the coin more secure, as well as helping to get the anticipated cost of new nickels below five cents. Lastly, during the phase-out period, I believe it is important that the Mint continue to produce pennies to ensure that the unanticipated shortages do not occur. At this time, I'd like to ask my colleague, Congressman Lucas, if he would be willing to commit to work with me to address these concerns.

First, let me state I very much appreciate the sincerity of the gentleman's efforts in addressing this issue. It is a very important matter, as stressed by the ranking member. I would note for the record that there are 100 billion one-cent pieces in circulation. And by the way, to my numismatic friends, I apologize. It is a one-cent piece, even though we commonly refer to it as a penny in the United States. That's an English coin. That was never an American coin. And I would also stress to my colleagues, yes, as we work through this process, I would enthusiastically, I believe, Congressman McLean and I would discuss these issues with you.

Well, thank you, Congressman Lucas. And with those assurances that I've received, I will vote in favor of the Common Sense Act. And I'll encourage all of my colleagues to do the same. And I yield back the balance.

The gentleman yields back. Does the gentleman from Ohio seek recognition?

I do move to strike the last word.

The gentleman is recognized for five minutes.

Thank you, Chairman. I want to thank you and Congresswoman McLean for working on this common sense proposal. I'm glad to see and I share Mr. Rose's passion for cash. I hope that we do move his bill locking in the legal tender currency of the country as an actual means of payment. We're seeing too many places where cash isn't accepted. I applaud many of our Democratic colleagues who share that view as well, so I hope this Congress we have the ability to protect cash. But the idea that you can't really use cash unless you can use pennies, well, we won't confront that challenge for a long time. As you pointed out, one of the reasons I wanted to strike the last word, there are plenty of pennies in existence, there just aren't plenty of pennies in circulation. We tend to produce lots of pennies that we don't really need to because people just keep them parked because it takes too much effort to convert them into something that's actually liquid. This may create some demand for pennies to become in circulation. Who knows where it goes? The idea that we need to keep producing these by the minute, I think, is a time that probably has passed. If we find that it hasn't, we could always turn them back on. I do think that this moment is a great opportunity to move forward with this Common Sense Act. I'm glad to see that our colleague, Mr. Rose, is on board with this proposal and shares some of the concerns about implementation. And frankly, I think Treasury's already confronting some of those challenges now. And we're, in fact, working to keep up with the administration. So as we found on a number of issues, it's hard to move at the speed of Trump. And I don't mean that to be a partisan thing. I think that our Democratic colleagues would be wise to provide their input in this process as well and support this good bill.

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