White House Weighs Executive Action to Cap Credit Card Rates
Source: Bloomberg
January 16, 2026 at 6:39 PM EST
The White House is weighing an executive action to enact President Donald Trump’s call for a cap on credit card interest rates, in addition to other measures seeking to ease US affordability challenges.
The plan, which is still being crafted as administration officials discuss the terms with industry and Congress, is designed to lower interest rates on credit cards as part of a broader push to reduce costs for Americans, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump’s action may also call on regulators to relax certain liquidity standards to help make the plan more attractive for the banks, said the people, who asked not to be identified citing private discussions.
Trump’s administration has promised to announce a range of measures as part of his affordability push, including a ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes and a move to let savers tap 401(k) retirement plans for home down payments. Although the timing on the potential executive action on credit card rates remains in flux, Trump said he’ll give further details on his affordability push when he speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Friday in an interview on Mornings With Maria on Fox Business that the administration has been in talks with the big banks who “think that the president’s on to something.” The measures under consideration from the White House also include a possible bid to block stock buybacks for publicly traded homebuilders, some of the people said. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte teed up the idea in an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this week.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-16/white-house-weighs-executive-action-to-cap-credit-card-rates
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