Disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to "Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions".
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This joint resolution would nullify a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that required very large financial institutions to cap overdraft fees at $5, or alternatively justify a higher cap or treat overdrafts as credit subject to federal disclosure requirements.
Using the Congressional Review Act, Congress would void the rule before it takes effect, leaving overdraft fee practices at large banks unchanged and preventing the CFPB from issuing a substantially similar rule in the future without new congressional authorization.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The resolution would invoke the Congressional Review Act to disapprove and nullify the CFPB's final rule titled "Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions," published December 30, 2024 (89 Fed. Reg. 106768). If enacted, the rule would have no force or effect. The rule it targets would have required very large financial institutions to choose one of three paths: cap overdraft charges at $5; cap charges at a higher amount with cost justification; or handle overdrafts as credit and comply with Truth in Lending Act disclosure requirements.
The resolution itself is a single operative clause — it does not rewrite any statute, impose new rules, or set any alternative overdraft policy. It only voids the CFPB's existing rule. Under the Congressional Review Act, a successfully enacted disapproval resolution also blocks the agency from issuing a substantially similar rule without further legislative authorization.
Key provisions
- 1Would disapprove and nullify the CFPB's final rule on overdraft lending at very large financial institutions, making it have no force or effect.
Who would be affected
Consumers at very large financial institutions who use or rely on overdraft coverage, since the CFPB rule being nullified would have capped their overdraft fees. Very large banks and credit unions subject to the rule would no longer face the $5 fee cap or the alternative disclosure requirements. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would lose the regulatory authority it exercised under the voided rule.
Why it matters
Millions of bank customers pay overdraft fees, which can run $25–$35 per transaction at many large institutions. If enacted, this resolution would prevent the CFPB's $5 fee cap from taking effect, leaving those fees unconstrained by the 2024 rule. It would also bar the CFPB from issuing a substantially similar overdraft rule without new congressional action, making any future federal overdraft fee limits harder to achieve.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Repeals CFPB Final Rule: Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions (89 Fed. Reg. 106768, December 30, 2024)
Voids the rule entirely, eliminating the $5 overdraft fee cap and accompanying credit-disclosure requirements for very large financial institutions.
Agencies directed to act
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.J. Res. 59 would have no net budgetary effect over the 2025–2035 period, with zero impact on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
CBO estimates that repealing the CFPB's overdraft lending rule would reduce the agency's administrative costs by $14 million over the 2026–2035 period, but that reduction would be fully offset by increased spending on other required administrative activities, resulting in no net budgetary effect. Direct spending, revenues, and the deficit are all estimated at $0 for 2025, 2025–2030, and 2025–2035. CBO also determined that the bill would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036, and identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates.
How implementation would work
Under the Congressional Review Act, if both chambers pass this joint resolution and the President signs it, the CFPB rule is immediately void with no further agency action required. The CFPB would also be legally barred from promulgating a substantially similar rule unless Congress passes new authorizing legislation. No rulemaking, grant cycles, or reporting requirements are created by the resolution itself.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 16.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This joint resolution nullifies the final rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau titled Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions and published on December 30, 2024. The rule revises provisions regarding charges for insufficient funds in a customer’s bank account (i.e., overdrafts) at very large financial institutions. Under the rule, these institutions must (1) cap overdraft charges at $5; (2) with justification, cap charges at a higher amount; or (3) handle overdrafts as credit and comply with applicable Truth in Lending Act disclosure requirements.
Legislative subjects
Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Bank accounts, deposits, capital; Banking and financial institutions regulation; Congressional oversight; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Finance and Financial Sector; User charges and fees
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-26