In December 2024, when finance minister Eelco Heinen intended to privatize De Volksbank, Van der Lee called on him through a motion to keep the bank, which had been nationalized in 2013 during the European debt crisis, state-owned. An overwhelming majority of the House adopted the motion, in which Van der Lee argued that the bank served a societal function because of its extensive network of locations and its sustainable investment portfolio.[3][4]