Washington, DC—In response to news that a judge in the Northern District of Texas has issued an order voiding the CFPB’s rule to close a legal loophole and cap most credit card late fees at $8—one day after the Trump CFPB, the defendant in the lawsuit, had cooperated with the Chamber of Commerce, the plaintiff, in filing a joint motion to terminate the rule—the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“As the nation faces an affordability crisis, the Trump CFPB has unleashed the floodgates for big banks to charge consumers excessive credit card late fees,” said Morgan Harper, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the American Economic Liberties project. “Even against the backdrop of the administration’s broader effort to dismantle the consumer watchdog, this move is outrageous. The now-voided, common-sense rule would have capped the typical late fee at $8 instead of $32, unless banks proved their actual collection costs exceeded that amount—saving consumers an estimated $10 billion annually. In terminating the rule, the administration is siding with Wall Street over American workers and consumers.”

The CFPB’s late fee rule was finalized under Director Rohit Chopra in March 2024. Just weeks after the rule was finalized, the Chamber of Commerce sued in a corporate-friendly jurisdiction to void it, arguing that the rule is arbitrary and capricious; that it violates the CARD Act of 2009 (which contains the loophole the new rule seeks to close); and that the CFPB itself is unconstitutional. The judge issued an injunction last May barring the rule from taking effect.

Yesterday, the Trump CFPB joined the Chamber in filing a joint motion to terminate the rule altogether, with counsel for the CFPB and the Chamber writing that “The parties agree that … the Late Fee rule is contrary to law.” The Judge promptly obliged, voiding the rule today.

Read Closing the Late Fee Loophole: How the CFPB Is Combating Credit Card Junk Fees, to learn more.

See Economic Liberties’ Corporations v. the People Tracker here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.