Senator Bernie Sanders has announced plans to push forward legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, a policy proposal that was first suggested by President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign.
Sanders took to X (formerly Twitter) to remind the public of Trump’s campaign promise, writing, “During the recent campaign, Donald Trump proposed a 10% cap on credit card interest rates. Great idea. Let’s see if he supports the legislation that I will introduce to do just that.”
Trump, who won the election against vice president Kamala Harris, initially expressed his support for a temporary cap on credit card interest rates while campaigning in New York. “We’re going to cap it at around 10%. We can’t let them make 25 and 30%,” he said, framing the policy as a way to help Americans “catch up.”
As of the third quarter of 2024, American credit card debt had reached $1.17 trillion, according to MarketWatch. Data from Lending Tree revealed that the average credit card interest rate in December was 24.43%.
When asked about Trump’s stance on the policy after his election victory, transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital, “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.”
Despite Trump’s backing of the 10% cap, some Republicans have opposed such policies, arguing that they could hurt businesses and limit access to credit.
Incoming Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, a close ally of Trump, was a vocal opponent of the Biden administration’s efforts to regulate late fees and other aspects of the credit card industry. His office declined to comment on the proposed interest rate cap.
