Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.said he would introduce new legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, something President-elect Donald Trump said he wanted to do temporarily during the campaign.
“During the recent campaign proposed by Donald Trump 10% cap on credit card interest. Great idea. Let’s see if he supports the legislation I will introduce to do just that,” Sanders wrote on X.
Senator Bernie Sanders, left, and President-elect Donald Trump. (Reuters)
During the campaign in New York before winning the election against Vice President Kamala HarrisTrump threw his support behind “temporary limit on interest rates on credit cards”.
“We’ll limit it to about 10%. We can’t let them earn 25 and 30%.”
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Trump has framed the interim policy as something that will help Americans while they “catch up.”
The amount of credit card debt owed by Americans rose to $1.17 trillion in the third quarter of 2024. MarketWatch.
According to Lending Tree, the average interest rate on credit cards in December was 24.43%, also MarketWatch reported.
As for whether the president-elect intends to continue implementing the policy after debuting it in September, transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement: “The American people re-elected President Trump by a wide margin, giving him a mandate to carry out his promises which he gave in the campaign He will fulfill.”
Sanders’ office did not say whether the limit in his bill would be temporary, as Trump said, when asked for comment by Fox News Digital.
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Senator Bernie Sanders speaks on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on August 20, 2024. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
While Trump has supported such a temporary limit, Republicans have often opposed policies that could hurt businesses and limit the availability of credit cards.
In fact, top Trump ally and incoming Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott, R.C., was the biggest opponent of efforts during the Biden administration to crack down on late fees and further regulate the credit card industry.
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Senator Tim Scott was a major opponent of efforts during the Biden administration to crack down on late fees and further regulate the credit card industry. (Reuters)
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Earlier this year, Scott explained that the administration’s rule to limit credit card late fees would “reduce the availability of credit card products to those who need them most, raise rates for many borrowers who have debt but pay on time, and increase the likelihood of late payments everywhere.”
Scott’s office declined to comment on the potential 10% interest rate cap.
