You can’t fall back on the private sector and say, ’You take care of the nation’s banking system.’ That’s a fundamental function of the government, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury and the FDIC, etc. All of those agencies have a major role to play there.

Cheney’s remark argues that the stability of the banking system is not merely a market outcome but a core public responsibility. By naming the Federal Reserve, Treasury, and FDIC, he points to the institutional toolkit—liquidity provision, fiscal backstops, and deposit insurance—needed to prevent bank runs and systemic collapse. The quote is notable because it frames intervention not as an ideological choice but as a basic function of state capacity: in crises, private actors may be unable or unwilling to coordinate rescue measures at the necessary scale. It also implicitly defends regulatory and emergency powers as essential to maintaining public confidence in money and credit.