Or maybe, Happy New Year? Washington got back to work slowly this week after a sudden, massive snowstorm on Monday.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Jelena McWilliams announced she will resign early next year, a decision that comes just weeks after a partisan struggle on the agency's board threatened her leadership.

The year is drawing to a close, and Washington is settling down for a short winter’s nap. The House of Representatives has left town for the holidays. The Senate is still in session, voting on nominations, but has pushed consideration of the President’s Build Back Better Act to 2022. It’s eerily warm out, but we’re hanging our stockings anyway, and wishing all of you a safe and happy holiday season.

The House and Senate agreed yesterday to a continuing resolution that should keep the government running until February 18, but the government may default on its obligations sometime before the year end anyway, unless Congress raises the debt ceiling.

Doyle Bartlett and Blair Hancock, members of NAIB’s federal government relations team, were recognized by the noted publication The Hill on their 2021 list of top lobbyists.

After a speech by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) lasting more than eight hours (we admit we did not stay up for all of it), the House of Representatives approved HR 5376, the Build Back Better Act, by a 220-213 vote this morning.

Congress is considering eliminating the exemption for industrial loan companies (“ILCs”) from the definition of a bank under the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHCA”). State regulators believe there are several misconceptions regarding ILCs and the permissible activities of ILCs and their commercial parents.

As we write, the House has begun the process of voting on an infrastructure package. President Joe Biden asked the House today to pass both an infrastructure bill and the reconciliation legislation that includes his Build Back Better plan.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) published its much-anticipated Report on Climate-Related Financial Risk yesterday, making specific recommendations for action by its member agencies.

NAIB member banks understand the importance of managing third party relationships in a safe and sound manner. We hope the comments provided will be helpful in developing well balanced and effective guidelines without regulatory burdens that may be overkill and without adequately considering the impact on the banks.

This proposal would create serious financial privacy concerns, increase tax preparation costs for individuals and small businesses, and create significant operational challenges for financial institutions.

Read the letters to President Biden and Members of the U.S House of Representatives and Senate regarding this issue.

The federal fiscal year ended yesterday at midnight — mostly, sort of, except for the House side of Capitol Hill, where it remains the legislative day of September 30. Congress did pass a temporary spending bill to keep the government open until December 3. The House continues to work on its version of an infrastructure bill.

This week the US House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions conducted a hearing “The Future of Banking: How Consolidation, Nonbank Competition, and Technology are Reshaping the Banking System”.

All 13 House committees charged with marking up pieces of the budget reconciliation package have finished that work, voting out spending bills along party lines, with no Republicans voting in the affirmative. But the end of the fiscal year—September 30—looms, as does the debt ceiling.