Senate Republicans blocked an attempt by a group of Democrats on Wednesday to roll back several policy changes made under President Trump to consumer protection laws, including measures on medical debt collection and overdraft fees. Consumer protections for members of the military also were involved, the AP reports. The Democrats' push was a maneuver to force vulnerable GOP senators to take politically difficult votes in an election year; Democrats are trying to hammer Republicans on the economy in their messaging going into the fall. The Senate took three roll call votes, with each resolution defeated largely along party lines.
The votes were tied to rule or regulatory changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since the Trump administration took over the bureau in February 2025. The bureau has rescinded 67 policies under its acting director, Russell Vought, who is also Trump's budget director. Vought has publicly said that his goal is to effectively dismantle the agency. "The Trump administration is hell-bent on destroying the agency," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and the top defender of the bureau in Congress. She said the changes at the bureau signal that the administration "has abandoned consumers and is making life more expensive for them."
The resolutions were not expected to pass. However, in an election year, the votes could be used as ammunition against vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection, including Susan Collins, Dan Sullivan, and John Cornyn. Collins voted with Democrats in favor of rolling back the Trump administration's changes. One vote Democrats sought was for the CFPB's policy change on overdraft fees. The Biden administration issued guidance in 2024 requiring banks to obtain their customers' affirmative consent before charging an overdraft fee. That guidance was repealed under Trump, which Democrats argue will lead to more Americans paying overdraft fees. The Senate voted down the resolution 47-53.
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