Rep. French Hill on Overturning CFPB's Digital Payment Rule

Criticism of CFPB Digital Payment Rule

• 🎯 The resolution aims to overturn a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) final rule concerning larger participants in general use digital payment applications.
• 💡 The rule is described as a "midnight rule", created by the CFPB, which is considered overly broad and imprecise.
• ⚠️ It treats diverse digital payment applications like peer-to-peer apps, digital wallets, and e-commerce tools as identical, despite their different models, rules, and consumer risks.

Concerns Over Regulatory Process

• ⏳ The CFPB provided only 30 days for public comment, which is insufficient for businesses, Congress, and state regulators to weigh in on a rule with profound consequences for digital commerce.
• 🚀 The rule was finalized in the waning days of the Biden administration, with much stakeholder feedback being ignored, potentially to insulate it from future reconsideration.
• 🗣️ Members of Congress have routinely criticized the CFPB for rushing matters, not following proper processes, and not allowing sufficient public critique.

Call for Congressional Action

• 🏛️ In a post-Chevron deference world, Congress must step in to assert its Article One authority over independent agencies that exceed their statutory authority.
• 🚫 There is no apparent evidence of widespread consumer harm or demonstrated market failure to justify the rule.
• ⚖️ The CFPB's approach of regulating based solely on scale, scope, and size, regardless of conduct, risk, or harm, violates decades of balanced regulatory principles.

Defending Good Governance and Innovation

• 🚫 This is not about defending large companies or "big tech," but about defending good governance, legislative authority, and public input in major regulatory decisions.
• 🚪 Allowing the rule to stand sets a dangerous precedent where federal agencies can bypass Congress, ignore public input, and rewrite rules behind closed doors.
• ✊ The resolution encourages colleagues to support the reassertion of Congress's proper role in setting the regulatory agenda and shaping sound financial policy.