OCC chief says Democrats applying sole political pressure in World Liberty charter choice
Key takeaways
- The chief of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said another stablecoin proposal is coming involving customer-identification programs.
- "That is very unfortunate and unprecedented," he added, insisting that his agency will do its job under the statute governing charters.
- Amid Thursday's verbal sparring, Gould said his agency is following ethics laws in the application for a national trust-bank charter for World Liberty Trust Company.
The regulator rejected claims he's doing President Trump's bidding during a congressional hearing that also addressed the GENIUS Act stablecoin push.By Jesse Hamilton|Edited by Nikhilesh De Jun 4, 2026, 6:19 p.m. 3 min read Make preferred on OCC chief Jonathan Gould accused Democrats of applying inappropriate pressure on his agency's decision whether to give World Liberty Financial a bank charter. (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)What to know: The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing with banking regulators that delved into stablecoin rules and the controversial bank-charter application from World Liberty Financial, the crypto firm tied to President Donald Trump and his family. Jonathan Gould, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, rejected assertions that he's doing Trump's bidding in the charter process and said that the only political pressure on this point is coming from Democrats. The chief of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said another stablecoin proposal is coming involving customer-identification programs. The crypto firm tied to President Donald Trump, World Liberty Financial Inc., was again a focus of political scrutiny in a congressional hearing in which the chief of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency suggested the only political pressure his agency feels on its decision of whether or not to give the firm a bank charter comes from Democrats, not Trump.
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould's rebuttal had come in response to Representative Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, who asked during the Thursday hearing whether Gould is "working for the American people or working as a Trump fixer, which is it?"
"Your attempts to continue to pressure me are the only political pressure I've felt from anyone other than your Senate colleagues," Gould said, referring to similar questions he'd heard from Democrats including Senator Elizabeth Warren. "That is very unfortunate and unprecedented," he added, insisting that his agency will do its job under the statute governing charters.