In response to the votes in the House of Representatives on S.J. Res 28, “Disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications,” and S.J. Res. 18, “Disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions,’’ the Consumer Federation of America released the following statements.
On S.J. Res. 28:
“Today’s vote cements a regulatory blind spot for payment apps and leaves people with little recourse to resolve a dispute beyond asking for help from their chatbot,” said Adam Rust, director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America. “Supervision is an essential tool for regulators to preserve our privacy and hold Big Tech accountable for fraud. It makes no sense to thwart supervision when the rate of fraud on payment apps is skyrocketing.”
“Without supervisory authority, regulators cannot provide continuous oversight of regulated entities and correct mistakes quickly and privately,” said Adam Rust. “All that is left is public enforcement actions which is ironically an approach that many of the supporters of the payment app CRA have criticized. Enforcement will still occur, but they require years of work to gather evidence on a case-by-case basis, and take place only after people have already been hurt. While bank payment apps remain supervised, the future for non-bank payment apps is the Wild West, where well-intentioned non-bank companies compete against Big Tech bad actors that have certainty that no one is watching when they move fast and break things.”
On S.J. Res 18:
“By siding with the large banks at a time when almost forty percent of American households have less than $400 in emergency savings,” said Adam Rust, “Congress just made America more expensive for anyone struggling to make ends meet. Partisanship has come before common sense. Unfortunately, a CRA is as blunt as it is long-lasting, so today’s narrow vote secures enduring profits for big banks’ overdraft franchises by making permanent their unfettered privilege to charge burdensome junk overdraft fees. ”
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About the Congressional Review Act
Passed in 1996, the Congressional Review Act permits Congress to invalidate a final rule in its entirety. Once enacted, the rule is not in effect and “shall be treated as though such rule had never taken effect.” As well, it prohibits an agency from issuing a new rule that is substantially the same. Since the passage of the law, Congress has used its CRA authority to reverse twenty rules. However, only one of the reversals occurred in the law’s first twenty years. Sixteen of the twenty reversals occurred in the 115th Congress (2017-18) and three others in the 117th (2021-22).
The 119th Congress has introduced sixty Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval.
“The Congressional Review Act is a blunt and often reckless tool to erase agency rules,” said Adam Rust, director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America. “As a result of these narrowly decided votes, regulators can never implement similar regulations to rein in abusive overdraft fees or supervise payment app companies. It took years to carefully craft these rules through the notice-and-comment process, and canceling them and closing the door on any future policymaking with a quick vote is irresponsible.”
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For more information:
CFA blog on why supervision is essential: The Stakes of Halting Supervision (February 10th, 2025)
Coalition comments from the Consumer Federation of America and National Partners Urging the CFPB to Define Participants in Payment Apps and Expand Supervision of Companies Offering These Payment Services. (January 9th, 2024)
Letter from 142 Organizations in support of CFPB’s rule to curb abusive overdraft fees. (April 1, 2025)
CFA statement on the payment app and digital wallets CRA (S.J. Res. 28) (March 31st, 2025)
CFA Fact Sheet on payment fraud. (March 31st, 2025)
CFA Statement in Response to Congressional Review Act Legislation to Overturn the CFPB’s Overdraft Lending Final Rule (February 3rd, 2025)
CFA Blog on how much large banks received in overdraft fees in 2024 (April 7th, 2025)