That’s an excellent and very timely question. The short answer is **no, President Donald Trump cannot unilaterally “get rid of” the FICO score.**

The FICO score is a product of a private company (the Fair Isaac Corporation), not a government agency. Therefore, the President does not have the direct authority to eliminate it.

However, your question touches on a much larger and very real policy debate about credit scoring, government regulation, and financial fairness. Here’s a breakdown of what’s actually happening and what Trump has proposed.

1. The Key Difference: Government vs. Private Company

* **FICO Score:** Created and managed by the **Fair Isaac Corporation**, a publicly-traded, private company. The government does not control it.

* **VantageScore:** Another common credit score, created by the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion), which are also private companies.

The government’s role is primarily as a *regulator* of these companies (through laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act) and a *consumer* of their scores.

2. What Trump and Republicans *Have* Proposed

While not “getting rid of FICO,” there is a significant political effort to change which credit scores the federal government uses. This is often misinterpreted as getting rid of FICO altogether.

* **The Policy Proposal:** Trump and many Republicans want to stop the federal government from using the **traditional FICO score** (specifically FICO 8) for most lending decisions, especially in mortgage lending.

* **The Goal:** They argue that the current, widely-used FICO model is outdated and doesn’t give a fair picture for millions of consumers. They propose switching to newer, “more inclusive” credit models for government-backed loans.

* **The NEW Score:** The bill often associated with this effort is the **Credit Score Competition Act**. It wouldn’t mandate a specific score but would allow government agencies like the FHA to use alternative scores that might include factors like rent, utility, and phone bill payments.

* **The Political Angle:** Proponents argue this will help more people, especially first-time homebuyers and minorities, qualify for mortgages. Critics worry it could lower lending standards and introduce risk into the housing market.

3. The “Operation Choke Point” Connection

When discussing Trump and financial regulation, you might hear about “Operation Choke Point.” This was a **previous Obama-era program** that aimed to discourage banks from doing business with industries deemed high-risk (like payday lenders, firearm sellers, etc.).

* **Trump’s Past Action:** The Trump administration **did officially end** Operation Choke Point in 2018, arguing it was a misuse of government power to effectively “choke off” legal businesses it didn’t like.

* **The Confusion:** This successful action to end a specific government program is sometimes conflated with the ongoing *proposal* to change credit scoring models, leading to the idea that Trump “got rid of” a financial system.

Summary

| **Trump is getting rid of the FICO score.** | **No.** The FICO score is a private product he has no direct power to eliminate. |

| **Trump wants to stop the government from using the traditional FICO score.** | **Yes.** This is a stated policy goal for him and many Republicans. |

| **There is a push to use alternative credit scores for mortgages.** | **Yes.** The goal is to use models that include more data to help more people qualify. |

| **Trump ended a controversial financial program (Operation Choke Point).** | **Yes,** but that was a different program unrelated to credit scores. |

**In conclusion:** President Trump cannot and is not getting rid of the FICO score itself. However, he is a prominent figure in a major political push to stop the *federal government* from using the traditional FICO score for its lending programs, hoping to replace it with what he calls a “fairer” and “more inclusive” alternative.