Date: September 5, 2024
Media Contact:
Nick Simpson
Nick@electronicpaymentscoalition.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Electronic Payments Coalition Executive Chairman Richard Hunt today called the Department of Transportation’s politically motivated review of airline reward programs “the latest stop on the Durbin-Marshall Retribution Tour.” This review – along with one by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – was requested last year by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) to weaponize the federal government against industries opposed to their legislation, placing new mandates on Americans’ credit cards.
“The Department of Transportation is the latest stop on the Durbin-Marshall Retribution Tour, with opening acts by Secretary Pete Buttigieg and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. Senators Marshall and Durbin, after failing to deliver on a promised vote, are now using their power to weaponize the federal government against workers and industries who oppose their flawed, experimental credit card bill. Instead of having an open debate about the merits of this bill or asking executives from corporate mega-stores why they refused to pass on promised savings from similar debit card mandates to consumers, Senators Durbin and Marshall are trying to silence, intimidate and distract by acting like schoolyard bullies.
“Perhaps the tour’s encore will be Alanis Morissette’s Ironic because Senator Marshall just a few years ago supported the Don’t Weaponize the IRS Act.”
A timeline of the Durbin-Marshall Retribution Tour is below.