https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/441063-federal-reserve-defies-white-house-and-congress-on-banking-regulation

President Trump and the Federal Reserve continue to clash over interest rates, but another simmering dispute concerns the regulatory burden the Federal Reserve and other agencies impose on banks. This latest fracas involves one of the costliest provisions of the Dodd Frank Act of 2010.

This is the Volcker rule. It is an edict that generally forbids banks from using their own capital to trade in securities or invest in hedge funds and private equity funds. It posed such a huge burden for small and midsize banks that last year, President Trump signed bipartisan legislation to relieve those institutions from the restrictions. Yet one year later, the Federal Reserve and four other regulatory agencies are defying the White House and Congress by not implementing the full relief from the Volcker rule prescribed in the law, leaving Main Street banks mired in the red tape that is hindering their efforts to serve consumers and small businesses.

That is why President Trump, along with support from Republicans and a significant number of Democrats, signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018. The legislation has a provision to provide relief from the Volcker rule, mirroring a Treasury Department report that recommended lifting it off of small and midsize banks, as well as banks of all sizes that engage in little asset trading.

It is one of the key legislative victories of President Trump, a crowning jewel for his record as one of the most deregulatory commanders in chief in modern history. But despite the clear mandate from the White House and Congress, federal regulators are attempting to short circuit this relief.