Shutdown Guidance for Financial Institutions Act
Key claim: If enacted, the Fed, CFPB, OCC, FDIC, and NCUA would have to jointly tell banks and credit unions to work with customers hurt by a government shutdown—including by modifying loans, extending credit, and avoiding damaging credit reports—and to publicly announce that guidance when a shutdown occurs.
Abstract
(HR5689 · 119th Congress) Shutdown Guidance for Financial Institutions Act This bill directs financial regulators—including the Federal Reserve Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration—to jointly issue guidance relating to a government shutdown. Specifically, financial regulators must issue guidance encouraging financial institutions to work with consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown, recognize that consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown may lose access to credit and face temporary hardship in making payments on debts, consider efforts to modify terms on existing loans or extend new credit to assist consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown, and take steps to prevent adverse credit information from being reported in a manner that harms consumers affected by a shutdown. In addition, financial regulators must jointly issue a press release to notify financial institutions, consumers, and businesses of this guidance in the event of a government shutdown. Financial regulators must also complete a report after a government shutdown regarding the guidance’s effectiveness and update the guidance if any shortcoming are identified in the report. Latest action (2025-10-03): Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
Government shutdowns disrupt income for federal workers, contractors, and benefit recipients, and existing regulator responses to those disruptions have been ad hoc. This bill would standardize the practice of interagency consumer-relief guidance during shutdowns, making forbearance expectations more predictable for banks, credit unions, and their customers—though the guidance itself would remain nonbinding.