'Disaster': Trump allies said to be mulling 'one of the dumbest ideas anyone could have'

Donald Trump's allies have discussed dismantling a Depression-era reform intended to prevent bank failures and maintain trust in the financial system, according to a report. Sources told CNN that the president-elect's allies are interested in shrinking or even closing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and giving the Treasury Department oversight of deposit insurance, but former regulators and academics say that makes little sense and questioned whether Congress would go through with that plan. “This idea would pose an enormous risk of terrifying Americans about the safety of their deposits and triggering bank runs,” said Patricia McCoy, a law professor at Boston College and former federal regulator. “This is one of the dumbest ideas anyone could have, and it’s a reflection of how incredibly out of touch billionaires are,” said Dennis Kelleher, CEO of the government watchdog Better Markets. Eliminating the FDIC or cutting it back would be a disaster for the American people.” The idea of ending or shrinking the FDIC has echoes of the right-wing Project 2025 blueprint for Trump's second term, but Congress has historically opposed calls to consolidate bank regulators, and experts think the threat against the agency is intended as a not-so-subtle message to the president-elect's appointees.