Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are scheming to slip their credit card legislation into a defense bill during the lame-duck session.
Durbin, the Senate Majority Whip, said on Monday that he wants to offer his credit card bill, the Credit Card Competition Act, as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a must-pass defense bill.
This would not be the first time that Durbin has attempted this maneuver; last year, he attempted to slip his handout to big retailers into the NDAA. It, like many of his and Marshall’s gambits, has failed.
Durbin and Marshall continue to push the credit card bill, which they hope will inject more competition into payment processing by requiring banks to work with at least one alternative payment network besides Visa and Mastercard, the dominant players in the industry. Critics of the bill contend that it would, in addition to severely compromising the security of payment processing, kill credit card rewards programs.
The Illinois Democrat chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his legislation Tuesday, which featured executives from Visa and Mastercard, among others.
This lame-duck session push also comes as Durbin is considering retiring now that Democrats are set to be in the minority next year.
Durbin’s move to include his credit bill in the NDAA follows as incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) called for swift passage of the defense bill.
Durbin’s move to put a non-germane credit card bill into the NDAA has caused rancor amongst many in the Senate.
A Senate Judiciary Committee staffer told Breitbart News, “Senator Durbin wants to push a last-minute credit card amendment into the NDAA that hasn’t gone through the normal clearance process? No one is getting new amendments cleared at this point. Who the f*ck does he think he is?”
“Even worse for Durbin is that no one in the Senate wants to do him any favors. Democrats on Judiciary are frustrated by how heavy handed he’s been with other members, and several think he’s kept the gavel for too long. He’s also been one of the most far-Left, obstructionist senators to bipartisan compromises in the NDAA.”
Breitbart News recently reported that Marshall, the prime Republican advocate for his and Durbin’s credit card bill, in September recorded a radio ad paid for by the Merchants Payments Coalition, a special interest advocacy group pushing his legislation.
Brian Kelly, founder of the Points Guy, said in March that the credit card bill would ax associated rewards programs, which Americans increasingly rely on in the Biden-Harris economy.
The Points Guy founder said that credit cards are “extremely lucrative” for Americans as some credit card companies offer over $1,000 to sign up for their credit card, and that does not exist anywhere else in the world.
Kelly said this credit card bill is “terrible for consumers.”
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to let lawmakers know that you are rattling the hornet’s nest when you come for people’s points and travel,” Kelly told the American Bankers Association (ABA) Washington Summit in March.
“You are going to make travel, which is pretty tough these days, even worse. So, is that legislation you want to pass — is that your legacy, taking value from consumers and making travel and life harder? When we’re already hit with enough?”
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) also disputed claims that the credit card bill would lower costs. During the 2024 ABA Summit, Tester discussed his issues with the bill.
He said that the “last time” Congress had a debate on this topic, “we were told if we did this it’ll save the consumers money.”
Sens. Marshall and Durbin did not respond to a request for comment from Breitbart News.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
