The US Senate has voted along party lines to overturn a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that would have extended its oversight to Big Tech payment services, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and X. The resolution, introduced by Republican Senators Pete Ricketts and Mike Flood, now heads to the House of Representatives for approval.
The CFPB rule, finalized in late 2023, aimed to regulate major nonbank payment providers under the same federal laws as traditional banks and credit unions. Critics argue the rule stifles innovation, while supporters claim it levels the playing field in the rapidly growing digital payments market.
Billionaire Elon Musk, whose platform X plans to launch payments services, has actively opposed the rule, posting “CFPB RIP” on his site. Meanwhile, the CFPB—under acting director Russell Vought after Trump dismissed Rohit Chopra—has recently scaled back its regulatory actions, including dropping lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo over fraud on the Zelle network.
Democrat Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have called for an ethics probe into Musk’s role in Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), citing potential conflicts of interest with X’s payment ambitions and Tesla’s auto financing services.