Senate Rejects Democratic Resolutions on CFPB Policy Rescissions

Senate Republicans voted against Democratic resolutions seeking to reverse multiple policy changes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made after the Trump administration assumed control of the agency in February 2025. The Senate conducted three roll-call votes on May 13, 2026, rejecting each resolution largely along party lines, while additional related measures were rejected by voice vote.

The resolutions invoked the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 law that gives Congress the opportunity to overturn finalized federal agency rules. They targeted rescissions and changes enacted by the CFPB under acting director Russell Vought, who also serves as President Trump’s budget director.

According to the Washington Times and ABC News reporting drawn from the same vote tallies and statements, the bureau has rescinded 67 policies since February 2025.

One resolution would have restored the Biden administration’s 2024 overdraft fee guidance, which required banks to obtain customers’ affirmative consent before charging overdraft fees. That guidance was repealed under the current administration. The Senate voted 47-53 against the resolution on the overdraft fee policy change.

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Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, defended the rollbacks. He said, “I can’t think of a worse way to govern than the Biden administration’s approach to the CFPB and the playbook that they used time and time again, putting onerous pressure on small businesses.”

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican to vote with Democrats in favor of reversing the CFPB changes. The resolutions were not expected to pass.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis. It operated as an independent agency with broad enforcement authority over consumer financial products and services. In 2024 the bureau estimated it had returned nearly $5 billion to American consumers and imposed roughly $4 billion in fines and penalties on financial companies.

A March survey by Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting found that more than 8 in 10 Americans supported the CFPB’s role in regulating banks and financial services companies, including majorities of Republicans.

Since February 2025 the bureau has largely been inoperable, with the bulk of its staff under orders not to work. Much of its activity has involved unwinding prior regulatory actions taken under the Biden administration and during Trump’s first term.

The agency’s operating budget is expected to decline following enactment of Trump’s tax and spending cuts law, which reduced transfers from the Federal Reserve.