The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced new actions targeting credit card reward points, drawing fire and mockery from conservative critics who see it as regulatory overreach and a favor to Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and his home state’s Discover Financial Services.

For background, Senator Dick Durbin’s long-standing campaign against Visa and Mastercard has been a significant part of his legislative agenda. His efforts, including the Durbin Amendment in 2010 and now the push for the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), have consistently aimed at regulation of certain interchange fees and rewards programs. Critics, including the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, have noted that a consistent theme of Durbin’s legislative push is substantial state intervention targeting certain credit card companies, but an exemption for Discover—the Illinois-based financial services firm that counts Senator Durbin as its home-state Senator. This isn’t about consumer protection; it’s about protecting Discover’s bottom line,” said a Republican counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The CFPB’s latest broadside against credit card rewards points follows action from other government entities targeting credit card rewards, including the Department of Transportation, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Department of Justice after the major credit card companies pushed back on legislation introduced by Senator Durbin and Roger Marshall to overhaul credit card processing for certain cards.

While this has largely been an industry fight, with major retailers like Target advocating for the legislation while banks and credit unions have pushed back, conservatives on the Hill have criticized the CFPB’s actions as an example of “weaponization.”

Senator Tom Cotton read a letter to the Department of Justice’s Inspector General slamming the Department for its case against Visa, as well as other cases, as “weaponizing the administrative state against politically disfavored opponents and critics.” Senators Ricketts (R, NE), McConnell (R, KY), Tillis (R-NC), and Cassidy (R-LA) joined in, saying the case was an example of “target[ing]” companies in a political manner that violates DOJ’s ethics rules.

One Senate staffer said, “The CFPB knows they can’t enact any of these changes in mid-December before Trump and Musk come in to clean house, but they’re trying to send a signal to progressive states Attorneys Generals to lead the charge. It’s pretty desperate, but what we’ve come to expect from Chopra.”

The CFPB’s recent policy on credit card rewards has not only ignited a debate over consumer finance but also over the role and future of the CFPB itself. With accusations of favoritism towards Discover, claims of agency weaponization, and strong industry pushback, this move might catalyze further discussions on the agency’s mandate and existence. Critics are now calling for a comprehensive reevaluation or even the dismantling of the CFPB, seeing this as a prime example of regulatory overreach and political maneuvering.

An advisor to the Trump Transition Team said, “This entire jihad against credit card rewards points was one of the dumbest things to come out of the Biden Administration. They just wanted a scapegoat for Biden’s inflation. There’s zero chance this continues once the adults come into office in January.”

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