Capitol Hill Briefing # The Risks of Expanding FDIC Deposit Insurance ##### Watch the Event Download: [ Video ](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/c41d2f29-6c0a-41f1-8044-631bbb55cb45/91212ab9-d320-47bc-b1c3-144af3fbc63c/main.mp4) [ Audio ](https://feeds.acast.com/public/streams/5e2e15a046f4465f31c89d8c/episodes/6932f0dc0d85cded0b6090ef.mp3) Join the conversation on X using [\#CatoEvents](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoEvents). Follow [@CatoInstitute](https://x.com/catoinstitute) on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute. Date and Time December 3, 2025 12 - 1 PM EST Location 1539 Longworth House Office Building Share This Event ##### Featuring ![Grover Norquist](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-11/grover-norquist-circle.jpeg?itok=0h9IRY-x) Grover Norquist Founder and President, Americans for Tax Reform ![David Burton_cropped-circle](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-06/David%20Burton_cropped-circle.jpg?itok=uxmSlHP8) David Burton Senior Research Fellow, Advancing American Freedom ![Thomas Kingsley portrait](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-11/thomas-kingsley-circle.png?itok=23VNzbwX) Thomas Kingsley Director of Financial Services Policy, American Action Forum ![Dan Savickas portrait](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-11/Dan-Savickas-Circle.jpeg?itok=Vp6_E9Bh) Dan Savickas Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs, Taxpayer Protection Alliance [![Norbert Michel Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-01/norbert-m-cropped.jpg?itok=8WIx97Dk)](/people/norbert-michel) [Norbert J. Michel](/people/norbert-michel) Vice President and Director, Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, Cato Institute [ ](https://x.com/norbertjmichel) *This event will be recorded and the recording will be posted afterwards.* Since the 1930s, the federal government has used the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) deposit insurance to justify its increased involvement in banking. Now, in the name of supporting community banks, some policymakers have proposed raising the FDIC insurance cap from $250,000 to $10 million. They claim that in the wake of the bank failures of 2023, depositors fled from small banks and moved their money to “too big to fail” institutions that enjoy implicit government backing. Increasing the FDIC insurance cap, these policymakers argue, will encourage depositors to stay with community banks. Yet for nearly a century, Congress and the FDIC have continued to expand and increase federal involvement in banking, creating a complex web of regulation, increasing costs for consumers, and burdening American taxpayers. Despite these changes being implemented in the name of safety, a select few institutions still clamor for special protection. The proposed expansion will magnify all these problems, making the system more fragile and less resilient, and forcing millions of Americans to bear its cost. Sadly, this latest expansion would come at a time when an incredibly small share of depositors even need additional coverage. Join leading policy experts for a discussion on why expanding FDIC insurance is not only unnecessary but could also ultimately harm both the economy and the community banks it was designed to protect. **Lunch will be served.** [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).