During debate on the house floor, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) tore into President Donald Trump's tariffs, cuts to federal agencies' funding workforces, and a House GOP-backed resolution to overturn a CFPB rule.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to H.J. Res 28, a partisan Congressional Review Act resolution that will block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from supervising payment apps offered by big tech firms like Apple and Google.
00:25Before I explain why this bill is bad, let us not ignore that President Trump and Co-President Musk are tearing down key government agencies and programs as we speak, like the CFPB and Social Security.
00:42Last week, the President launched a global trade war against the rest of the world, including our friends, resulting in a record two-day loss of $6.6 trillion in wealth.
00:57Fed Chair Powell warned that these tariffs will lead to higher inflation and job losses.
01:05Later today, Republicans will try to pass the President's budget that is loaded with $7 trillion in tax cuts for Musk and the other big tech billionaires, all while they are slashing Medicaid by $880 billion.
01:23And walking into our agencies and firing people, employees, some have been working 10, 15, and 20 years and telling them to get out by 5 o'clock.
01:36And I absolutely respect the Chair of the Committee on Financial Services, Mr. Hill, and what he does.
01:47But to talk about good government, he is absolutely defending what nobody would consider good government.
01:56We're in a chaotic position in the government of the United States of America.
02:02This is the worst that we've ever seen.
02:05We've never seen anything like this.
02:07As a matter of fact, I think it is a coup d'etat.
02:11And so, I'm here today because instead of considering bills to lower costs for consumers, Republicans have called up yet another bill to help out the richest man on the planet.
02:25The richest man on the planet, who is a friend of Mr. Trump's, who has not been elected by anybody.
02:32Who is absolutely controlling our government now.
02:36The firing of people, the destroying of agencies, all of that, by an unelected billionaire, who is intent on changing this government in ways that make it look like a dictatorship.
02:50Notably, this resolution will shield Elon Musk's X app, which will soon get into the payments business from supervision and oversight by the CFPB.
03:05The CFPB oversees the largest banks and the services they provide to consumers, including their payment apps.
03:13However, until the large participant rule was issued, the CFPB did not have the authority to supervise and examine the payment platforms of big tech companies.
03:26In 2024, the CFPB leveled the playing field between big banks and big tech.
03:33This rule was necessary because big tech and other non-bank firms have increasingly offered mobile wallets and payment apps for consumers to use.
03:46While the same consumer protection laws that apply to the banks do not apply to these big, big, big tech firms,
03:54it is critical that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau examine them to ensure they, too, are following the law.
04:03This will help the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversee these great big tech apps to protect the millions of consumers who use them and their digital wallets from fraud to safeguard their sensitive personal data and prevent unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices.
04:25So, let's be clear.
04:26The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule that Republicans want to repeal by passing H.J. Res. 28 imposes no new standards on these big, large payment apps.
04:40CFPB's rule simply allows the government to check that these companies are following the law, the very law that Congress passed to give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the authority.
04:54to examine the largest big tech participants.
04:59Payment fraud is at its all-time high, and these payment apps play a big role in that increase.
05:07I have received more and more complaints from constituents who have been tricked, scammed, and defrauded out of their hard-earned money on these payment apps.
05:18And consumer use of payment apps is only increasing, with lower-income households experiencing a disproportionate share of complaints.
05:30Between 2018 and 2021, fraud-related complaints involving Venmo, Cash App, and other payment apps surged by over 460%,
05:45while financial losses skyrocket by more than 360%.
05:52Candidly, we should be working together across the aisle to tackle this rise in payment fraud,
06:00not undermining the authority of the agency that can enforce the law.
06:05This should not be a partisan issue.
06:08Instead, Democrats have to fight back against both Trump's efforts to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
06:16and Republican efforts to gut the authorities of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
06:22But I'm hopeful that we're making progress to stop these efforts to protect big, big, big tech and predatory lenders.
06:31A district court judge blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
06:39before the administration appealed the ruling.
06:43And even this terrible resolution before us received bipartisan opposition in the Senate.
06:52Mr. Speaker, as we stand here and discuss these anti-consumer CRAs today,
07:02our constituents are deeply concerned about losing Social Security and Medicaid because of the Elon Musk's reckless cuts to government.
07:13Families and business across America are struggling as Trump raises taxes on Americans nationwide through tariffs.
07:22It makes no sense to pass legislation that eliminates oversight of these big, big tech apps while millions of people are being defrauded, scammed and basically ripped off.
07:36We see this bill for what it is.
07:38Oh, a thank you gift to Elon Musk and other big tech billionaires who came to Trump's rescue during the 2024 election.
07:48We all saw them front and center at Trump's inauguration.
07:53You saw those billionaires accompanying him.
07:56Why are all the billionaires getting together?
07:58Because they don't want to pay more taxes.
08:00They want to get rid of employees who are providing all kinds of services to the constituents of this country
08:08in order to pay less taxes for the richest people in the country.
08:14Well, all of them run companies that will directly benefit passing this resolution.
08:23Enough is enough.
08:24I urge members of this house to show some courage and stand up for consumers,
08:29stand up for the rule of law and reject this harmful legislation.
08:34And so I reserve the balance of my time.
08:36I've got a lot more to say.
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08:44If anyone would say it.
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09:06Tip.