Congress·Reported·H.R. 6547

Least Cost Exception Act

Congress bill would let FDIC avoid selling failed banks to the biggest banks, even if it costs more

Dec 17, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Next up: The House

This bill is currently waiting for a vote by the full House of Representatives. Although it passed the committee stage in February 2026, no further action has occurred on the bill since that time. It is considered stalled because there has been no progress for five months.

Legislative Progress

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Key Points

This bill would let the FDIC pick a bank-failure solution that is not the absolute cheapest for the insurance fund, if it helps avoid more power ending up in the biggest “systemically important” banks.
The FDIC could only use this option if the FDIC and the Federal Reserve (after talking with Treasury) decide the extra risk to the deposit insurance fund is worth the benefit of reducing banking system concentration.
The FDIC would have to set, by rule within 1 year, a cap on how much of the deposit insurance fund’s net worth can be used for these higher-cost decisions.
If the chosen option costs more than the cheapest option, the buyer would have to pay the difference back to the deposit insurance fund through an assessment paid over at least 5 years.
Within 30 days of using this option, the FDIC would have to report to Congress explaining how much more it cost than the cheapest alternative and why it was chosen.

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Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

3 milestones7 actions

Feb 2, 2026House

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 405.

The bill is now on the schedule for the full chamber to consider. It's in line for debate and a vote.

Feb 2, 2026House

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Financial Services. H. Rept. 119-474.

Dec 17, 2025House

Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 50 - 0.

The committee approved this bill and is sending it to the full chamber for a vote. This is a significant step — most bills never get this far.

Dec 17, 2025House

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

Dec 16, 2025House

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

Related News

1 article

American Banker·Dec 17, 2025

Bipartisan agreement emerges on bank resolution reform

Covers House Financial Services Committee action on Rep. Mike Flood’s Least Cost Exception Act, which would let the FDIC deviate from the least-cost bid when the cheapest outcome would further concentrate assets in the biggest banks.

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No votes recorded for this bill yet.