Press Releases
House Republicans Expected to Side With Wall Street, Big Tech
WASHINGTON, DC — House Republicans are expected to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rules on overdraft fees and ‘larger participant‘ regulations today, continuing their campaign to make banking and digital finance more difficult, risky, and expensive for Americans. Blocking these rules would be a major victory for Wall Street and Big Tech companies like PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Apple Wallet, and Elon Musk’s X-Money, allowing big banks to continue exploiting American families with excessive overdraft fees while Big Tech evades the financial regulations that govern traditional banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions.
“Rather than protect the finances of families, service members, seniors, and working people, House Republicans are giving banks and tech firms a free pass on exploitation and overdraft fees. They’re doing the bidding of their Wall Street donors while American families stand to lose billions.”
Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk
When it comes to overdraft fees, Big Banks get what they pay for: Today’s vote follows reporting from government watchdog Accountable.US revealing that House Financial Services Committee Republicans accepted over half a million dollars from financial industry groups opposed to the CFPB’s overdraft rule during the 2024 campaign cycle.
On March 27, Senate Republicans voted to repeal the CFPB’s overdraft rule, continuing an assault from the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE against the agency’s work protecting Americans from abusive financial industry practices.
Blocking the rule will allow big banks and financial institutions to continue exploiting American families, costing those who pay overdraft fees an average of $225 annually.
Overdraft fees affect a huge portion of American families. In 2024, Americans paid $12.1 billion in overdraft and NSF fees. Most of those fees are levied for overdrafts that are less than $26 and are repaid within 3 days—meaning customers pay the equivalent of a 16,000% annual percentage rate (APR) on transactions most would rather have denied.
House Republicans are siding with Musk and Big Tech: Damning details from the Hill revealed earlier this year that the Trump administration’s attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) make it possible for Trump and his allies to enrich themselves and their own business ventures into digital payment systems at the expense of millions of Americans.
Blocking the CFPB’s rule puts Americans who use digital payment systems at risk of fraud by blocking the CFPB from holding Big Tech companies accountable to the same federal laws as large banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions.
