(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) An unexpected pair of senators may soon team up to help swiftly deliver on one of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promises: capping excessive credit card interest rates.
On Friday, Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, expressed their eagerness to work with the second Trump administration to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent—less than half the current average of 24.61 percent.
“I look forward to working with the Trump Administration on fulfilling his promise to cap credit card interest rates at 10%,” Sanders wrote on X, garnering over 9.2 million views.
“We cannot continue to allow big banks to make record profits by ripping off Americans by charging them 25 to 30% interest rates,” Sanders added. “That is usury.”
Hawley agreed, reposting Sanders’ post and calling on the upcoming Republican-led Senate to prioritize the plan.
“An anti-usury bill capping outrageous credit card rates ought to be a top priority of the next Congress,” Hawley wrote.
An anti-usury bill capping outrageous credit card rates ought to be a top priority of the next Congress https://t.co/rPGfSEgVsB
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 16, 2024
The unusual alliance between Hawley, a staunch conservative, and Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist,” comes two months after Trump condemned draconian credit card interest rates.
“While working Americans catch up, we’re going to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates at 10 percent. We have no choice,” Trump said in September.
The Visa/MC credit card monopoly has put Americans into excessive debt with usurious interest rates at 25%+
President Trump wants a 10% cap on all credit card interest rates
JD Vance co-sponsored the Credit Card Competition act which fights the 2-4% hidden tax you pay every… pic.twitter.com/PKF5MsMExK
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) November 11, 2024
According to the New York Federal Reserve, Americans carry a total of $1.17 trillion in credit card debt, following a $24 billion increase in the second quarter of 2024. This debt is only worsened by the average credit card interest rate of 24.61 percent, according to LendingTree.
In September 2023, Hawley introduced the Capping Credit Card Interest Rates Act, which would have capped the interest rate at 18 percent. This is three points higher than Sanders’s proposal of 15 percent.
