Back To The Drawing Board? Overdraft Fees, The Congressional Review Act, and the CFPB's Path Back To Consumer Protection

Authors

• Kaitlin A. Caruso

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

In late 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau adopted a rule aimed at addressing a longtime pain point for consumers: high, sometimes unpredictable, overdraft fees. The CFPB predicted that the rule would save consumers billions of dollars per year. But it was not to be. The second Trump Administration has taken unprecedented, sometimes unlawful, action to incapacitate and dismantle the CFPB. The President and Congress have also worked together to use an unusual statutory tool, the Congressional Review Act, to not only to kill the overdraft rule but also keep the CFPB from adopting any regulation that is “substantially the same” in the future without Congressional permission.

Publication Title

Buffalo Law Review

Volume

74

Issue

1

Article Number

1178

First Page

65

Last Page

163

Suggested Bluebook Citation

Kaitlin A. Caruso, Back to the Drawing Board? Overdraft Fees, the Congressional Review Act, and the CFPB’s Path Back to Consumer Protection, 74 Buff. L. Rev. 65 (2026)