Congress blocks new rules on overdraft fees for big banks

What it does

Congress stopped a rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The rule would have limited overdraft fees that big banks charge. Banks can now keep charging overdraft fees the way they did before.

Who it affects

People who have bank accounts lose a protection against high overdraft fees. Big banks can keep their current overdraft fee practices. People with lower account balances are most at risk from overdraft charges.

One thing to notice

The rule was stopped before it could take effect. Overdraft fees hit people with less money in their accounts the hardest.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

16 cosponsors: 16 Republicans.

• Feb 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Feb 13, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs”
• Mar 26, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs discharged, by petition, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 802(c)”
• Mar 27, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 52 - 48. Record Vote Number: 153. (text: CR S1884)”
• Apr 9, 2025 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 211 (Roll no. 96). (text: CR H1519)”
• May 5, 2025 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
• May 9, 2025 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-10”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 8 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $55,960,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 28 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 72% of bills with any report.

Tim Scott, who sponsored the bill, received $198,300 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
• Bank Policy Institute — $1,130,000 in 2 reports
• New York Bankers Association — $90,000 in 2 reports
• Gowest Credit Union Association — $80,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — A government agency that makes rules to protect people from unfair money practices.
• overdraft fees — Money a bank charges when someone spends more than they have in their account.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.