Trump’s Credit Card Interest Cap Gets Chilly Reception From Republicans in Congress

President Trump’s demand that interest rates for credit cards be capped at ten percent is receiving a chilly reception on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers say that such a change would drastically restrict credit for the average American. Mr. Trump has told lenders to cap their rates before January 20 or face retribution. Mr. Trump has made demands of independent agencies and private businesses as he tries to focus more on the issue of affordability. He has tried to bully Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell into cutting interest rates, pushed corporations to stop buying single-family homes, and now says that banks must slash their own rates for credit. The president went so far as to call a longtime foe — Senator Elizabeth Warren — on Monday to discuss capping credit card interest rates. A White House official tells the New York Sun that the call was a “productive” one, in which the two discussed the interest rate cap and Ms. Warren’s housing reform bill.The GOP, however, is not as warm as Ms. Warren to the idea. It’s one of the few moments where conservative lawmakers have actually tried to push back against Mr. Trump. Speaker Mike Johnson says the president likely has “not thought through” the consequences of the interest rate cap. “The president is the ideas guy,” Mr. Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. “You would need legislation to do something like that and we’d have a lot of work to build consensus around it, but you’ve gotta be very careful if you go forward [with] that.”“In our zeal to bring down costs, you don’t want to have negative secondary effects of that,” he said. “What some of the experts have said is, well, if you do that, then the credit card companies … would just stop lending money.”The Senate majority leader, Senator John Thune, offered a similar assessment. “I think that would probably deprive an awful lot of people of access to credit around the country. Credit cards would probably become debit cards,” Mr. Thune told reporters on Tuesday. “That’s not something I’m out there advocating for. Let’s put it that way.”Senator Rand Paul, the libertarian from Kentucky, said on Joe Rogan’s podcast on Tuesday that banks and lenders should be able to charge the interest rate they see fit based on market forces, including someone’s risk level. He also says people should not be barred by the government from making mistakes, like going into consumer debt. “By having to pay 30 percent [interest], it’s going to teach you to be a better planner the next time because you can’t keep borrowing at 30 percent,” Dr. Paul said. “They should teach people in high school how to plan their budget.”Mr. Trump first announced his demand for a ten percent interest rate cap last week, saying that Americans were being “ripped off” by lenders. He says the cap should begin on January 20 and remain in place for one year. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Mr. Trump promised retribution for any lenders who do not go along with his request. He says companies will be “in violation of the law,” even though there is no federal law granting the president the ability to order an interest rate cap for credit cards. He says “very severe things” will happen if his demands are not met. “They’ve really abused the public,” the president said of the credit card companies.

Trump’s Credit Card Interest Cap Gets Chilly Reception From Republicans in Congress

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