As the Trump administration dismantles key consumer protection agencies, the Senate Republican now tasked with overseeing these financial regulators has received millions from banking and financial interests, defended their right to charge “junk fees,” and just introduced a resolution allowing banks to once again charge customers unnecessarily high fees when they overdraft their accounts.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has received more than $5.3 million in campaign donations from banking, securities, and investment interests since 2009. His largest individual donors include financial executives who have given him nearly $1 million to fund his campaign efforts, and he’s taken thousands from donors affiliated with major banks targeted by financial regulators for excessive overdraft fees, according to federal data we reviewed.
As the newly elected chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Scott is responsible for setting the agenda of the committee, which oversees key federal banking and financial regulatory agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Scott has promised to support cutting CFPB funding to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, slash regulations for credit lending, and help cryptocurrencies and fintech platforms become more entrenched within the traditional banking systems.
On February 13, Scott and Rep. French Hill (R-AR) introduced a resolution that would roll back a recent CFPB rule placing a $5 cap on what most banks can charge customers when they overdraft their accounts. Prior to the new rule, such overdraft fees earned banks billions of dollars each year, a practice Scott…
Auteur: Freddy Brewster
