OCC Comptroller Gould Refuses Warren Demand to Pause WLFI Charter Review

On January 23, 2026, Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould — a Trump appointee confirmed to the OCC in summer 2025 — sent Senator Elizabeth Warren a written response refusing her demand that the OCC halt review of World Liberty Financial’s national trust bank charter application. Gould wrote: “Congress has made clear that the OCC has a duty to act on the applications it receives in a timely manner. The OCC intends to act consistent with this duty rather than your demand.”

Gould framed the agency’s posture as statutorily required, stating the OCC “is committed to following all applicable laws and regulations, including those governing the chartering application and review process,” and characterizing charter review as an “apolitical and nonpartisan process.” He described it as “vital” that the agency speedily review de novo bank charters.

The response came ten days after Warren’s January 13 letter and three days after her January 20 deadline. Warren responded the same day: “President Trump’s unprecedented crypto corruption has metastasized to the banking system.” The episode established the operative pattern for the remainder of the charter review: the OCC, led by a Trump-appointed Comptroller, refused to build conflict-of-interest considerations into the application process for a bank directly owned by the Trump family, citing statutory neutrality. No statutory deadline was cited by name, but the OCC’s internal target of 120-day preliminary conditional-approval decisions would put a WLTC decision window in May 2026.

See 2026-01-07–world-liberty-financial-occ-bank-charter-application, 2026-01-13–warren-presses-occ-halt-wlfi-bank-charter, and world-liberty-financial.