US officials are studying ways to let the FDIC temporarily insure deposits beyond the current $250,000 cap on most accounts, without having to get approval from Congress

US officials are studying ways to let the FDIC temporarily insure deposits beyond the current $250,000 cap on most accounts, without having to get approval from Congress, per Bloomberg.

“We will use the tools we have to support community banks,” White House spokesman Michael Kikukawa said, without directly addressing whether the measure is being studied. “Since our administration and the regulators took decisive action last weekend, we have seen deposits stabilize at regional banks throughout the country and, in some cases, outflows have modestly reversed.”

“Due to decisive recent actions, the situation has stabilized, deposit flows are improving and Americans can have confidence in the safety of their deposits,” a Treasury spokeswoman said in a statement.

“Any universal guarantee on all bank deposits, whether implicit or explicit, enshrines a dangerous precedent that simply encourages future irresponsible behavior to be paid for by those not involved who followed the rules,” the House Freedom Caucus said in a statement.

It is estimated there are $18 trillion in total deposits.