ABCNews.com(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump says he’s considering pushing for legislation that would break up big banks on Wall Street.
“I’m looking at that right now,” Trump said about breaking up Wall Street banks in an interview with Bloomberg News. “There’s some people that want to go back to the old system, right? So we’re going to look at that.”
Press secretary Sean Spicer made similar comments during Monday’s White House briefing.
“He’s looking at a 21st century Glass-Steagall. That is something that we’ve talked about in the beginning. He mentioned this on the campaign trail. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody. But it is something that is currently being looked at,” Spicer told reporters.
The Glass-Steagall law, passed in 1933, separated banks that deal with the stock market and other investments from commercial banks that work with consumers and individuals. The legislation was scaled back in 1999 under then-President Bill Clinton. Its repeal is sometimes blamed for the Great Recession in 2007 and 2008.
The GOP Party platform calls for bringing back the regulations, and Trump called for similar regulations during the 2016 campaign. Breaking up big banks has also been a recent rallying cry for liberals.
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