Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) is gauging support for a bill that reins in credit card swipe fees, though he has not yet requested a vote as part of a major piece of banking legislation.
“We’ll see,” Marshall told the Washington Examiner. “You know, we’re out there in the hinterland trying to figure out what the whip count looks like, and we’ll see where we are.”
In the coming days, the Senate is expected to pass the GENIUS Act, a bill regulating cryptocurrency that cleared the Banking Committee in March. But first, it must survive an amendment process that is handing Marshall and his co-sponsors a chance to demand a vote.
Marshall said he has not “personally” asked Senate GOP leadership to consider the Credit Card Competition Act, but doing so would reignite a legislative battle that pits retailers against the credit card processors that charge them transaction fees for each purchase.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters he wants to have an “open amendment process” as part of the GENIUS Act, which cleared a critical test vote on Monday night. However, he deferred to the underlying bill’s sponsors when asked about negotiations with Marshall.
Later that day, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a lead sponsor, said Marshall’s bill was not “realistic for this piece of legislation” but declined to say whether that meant an amendment vote was off the table.
“We’re not going to negotiate in the media how we’re going to handle the amendment process,” he said.
Marshall repeatedly sought a vote for his swipe fee bill in the last Congress, eyeing government funding legislation and Congress’s annual defense bill as possible vehicles. But he has also declined to hold up must-pass legislation over the request.
Retailers say the measure, which attempts to break up Visa and Mastercard’s dominance in the credit card space, would reduce costs for consumers, while the banking industry has warned it could degrade the services they offer, including their rewards programs.
“In the past, as you know, there have been lots of holds placed on that,” Thune said of Marshall’s bill.
“If they’re ever going to have that conversation, this could be the place to do that,” he added. “But we’ll see.”
The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of larger concerns about the GENIUS Act. Sixteen Democrats voted to advance the bill on Monday, but that support could be endangered without additional changes on the Senate floor.
The Trump family’s heavy investments in stablecoins, the digital asset regulated by the GENIUS Act, is one concern, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) among the Democrats expected to push an amendment banning elected officials from owning cryptocurrencies.
Other changes are more technical, with Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) demanding revised language on illicit financing.
Marshall, for his part, was bearish about his swipe fee bill’s prospects when notified of Hagerty’s comments.
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“It just seems next to impossible, doesn’t it?” Marshall said. “I don’t know how anyone could get it across the finish line. It’d be a miracle if we could.”
The bill is co-sponsored by four other senators including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Senate minority whip.