Press Releases

WASHINGTON — Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Chair Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and 53 of her CPC colleagues wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson welcoming a debate and vote on H.J. Res. 122. This Republican-led legislation would invalidate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) recently finalized Credit Card Penalty Fees Rule (Regulation Z), which lowers most late fees charged by big banks issuing credit cards from $32 to $8, just a quarter of the original penalty. 

“We look forward to this opportunity to highlight the Republican Majority’s enthusiastic support for junk fees, including exorbitant credit card fees,” the lawmakers wrote. “We think it is critical that the American people understand the House Republican Conference’s firm and dedicated commitment to protecting the business model of unfettered, predatory fines imposed by large corporate banks against ordinary Americans.” 

“We look forward to a promptly scheduled vote that allows every House Republican to go on the record opposing an initiative that will rein in a loophole exploited by corporate giants to boost their profits at the expense of American households,” the Members added. “We are unsurprised that House Republicans uniformly insist on defending large corporate banks’ current practice of overcharging Americans with credit-card late fees and welcome the opportunity to highlight the contrast in our priorities on the House floor this summer.” 

The CFPB estimates that the largest issuers earn about five times more from late fees than it costs them to collect those fees. Ending this practice through the rule, which requires large companies to prove that fees higher than $8 are necessary to cover their actual collection costs, will save Americans $10 billion annually, averaging $220 a year in savings for over 45 million people.

The lawmakers concluded by noting that “the Congressional Progressive Caucus has strongly supported the Biden Administration’s laser focus on lowering costs for ordinary Americans, providing financial breathing room for working families, and creating an open and even playing field in which companies must compete with each other to provide working people with better products, services, and wages. We are proud to partner with the Administration to address priorities in our CPC Executive Action Agenda to attack junk fees across American industries like banking, where corporate bad actors have gotten away with business models that maximize profits through unfair penalties, fee harvesting, and bait-and-switch tactics, preying on financially vulnerable and less-educated customers in particular.”  

The letter was signed by CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Deputy Chair Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Whip Greg Casar (TX-35), Alma Adams (NC-12), Becca Balint (VT-01), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Cori Bush (MO-01), André Carson (IN-07), Troy Carter (LA-02), Matt Cartwright (PA-08), Judy Chu (CA-28), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Christopher Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jesús ‘Chuy’ García (IL-04), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Morgan McGarvey (KY-19), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Grace Meng (NY-06), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-47), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Mark Takano (CA-41), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Nikema Williams (GA-05).

WASHINGTON — Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s rulings in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce: 

“Today’s decision by an extremist Supreme Court eviscerates four decades of legal precedent that protects Americans’ rights to clean air and water, safe workplaces, and healthcare by preventing  the dedicated civil-servant experts who staff our federal agencies from implementing the laws enacted by Congress. This dangerous ruling overturns a unanimous Supreme Court determination, known as Chevron deference, that recognizes that judges are not policy experts and that it is entirely appropriate for knowledgeable regulatory agencies to respond effectively to protect Americans. 

“That is why Congress must immediately pass my Stop Corporate Capture Act, the only bill that codifies Chevron deference, strengthens the federal-agency rulemaking process, and ensures that rulemaking is guided by the public interest–not what’s good for wealthy corporations. 

“Today’s ruling creates massive uncertainty around the ability of the Executive Branch to fulfill its constitutional obligation to enforce our laws and casts doubt on the protections Americans depend on for a safe environment, financial markets, food products, prescription drugs, enforcement of our civil rights, and much more. It empowers the very same Supreme Court that struck down abortion rights to make far-reaching policy decisions. 

“Make no mistake: this is the outcome of a multi-decade crusade by big business and rightwing extremists to gut federal agencies tasked with protecting Americans’ health and safety to instead benefit corporations aiming to dismantle regulations and boost their profits. 

“In addition to passing my bill to codify Chevron deference, we must also enact sweeping oversight measures to rein in corruption and billionaire influence at the Supreme Court, whose far-right extremist majority routinely flouts basic ethics, throws out precedent, and legislates from the bench to benefit the wealthiest and most powerful.” 

WASHINGTON — Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee and Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus issued the following statement regarding immigration legislation in the Senate:  

“We are disappointed that the Senate will once again vote on an already-failed border bill in a move that only splits the Democratic Caucus over extreme and unworkable enforcement-only policies. This framework, which was constructed under Republican hostage-taking, does nothing to address the longstanding updates needed to modernize our outdated immigration system, create more legal pathways, and recognize the enormous contributions of immigrants to communities and our economy. 

“While the investments in asylum officers and immigration judges are welcome and needed, these alone cannot address the negative effects of a new Title 42-like expulsion authority that will close the border and turn away people seeking asylum without due process. Such a policy will be a boon to cartels who prey on migrants and would do nothing to address the root causes of migration—which will continue to send immigrants to the border. It is worth remembering that under Donald Trump, such a policy was not only declared unlawful by the courts, but it also led to increases—not decreases—in illegal border crossing. The Senate framework would also subject immigrants to impossible standards and unrealistic timelines in presenting their asylum claims, forcing many back to violence, dangerous conditions, or other harm. The bill also limits parole at land ports of entry, which will only make it more difficult to process people in a safe and orderly way.

“It is tempting to simply embrace the very policies we rejected under Donald Trump to counter the horrific xenophobic and racist attacks against immigrants coming from the right. We urge our Senate Democratic colleagues to resist this urge and instead show a clear contrast between Republicans and Democrats. Abandon unworkable policy solutions offered by Republicans and instead work with our caucuses to craft a common-sense bipartisan bill that provides holistic solutions that address our economic, humanitarian, and security needs — not more of the same enforcement-only approach that has failed us for the last 30 years.” 

WASHINGTON, DC — Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and chair of CPC’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Task Force, issued the following statement on the passage of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024: 

“We are pleased that this FAA reauthorization, which will now go to the President’s desk, includes two key CPC priorities that our caucus worked hard to attach in order to strengthen consumer rights and protect labor agreements.

“Airlines have long taken advantage of weak regulations to overbook and under-staff flights. Now, airlines will be required to refund a consumer when a flight is canceled or significantly delayed, and progressives fought to ensure that refunds are paid automatically. As passed, this bill now codifies the Biden Administration’s important final rule to shift the burden of initiating a refund from consumers onto the airlines. The Progressive Caucus advocated hard for this provision and also appreciates the advocacy and engagement of Senator Elizabeth Warren and CPC member and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Nanette Barragán to ensure this language made it into the final bill. This reauthorization also directs air carriers to set reimbursement policies for the cost of hotels and meals in cases of mass cancellations. 

“The CPC also successfully advocated to remove a provision that would have raised the pilot retirement age, undermining hard-won labor agreements and compliance with international safety regulations. Increasing the number of pilots must be rooted in expanding diverse workforce development and talent pipelines, not sacrificing workers’ rights and safety. 

“We thank Ranking Member Rick Larsen, Chair Maria Cantwell, and Congressional Democratic leadership for working with us to secure these significant victories, and more, within this bipartisan compromise bill. We look forward to partnering with them to advance even bolder policies in the future to build a fairer, more sustainable, and resilient aviation system, including sweeping improvements in wages and benefits for airport service workers as outlined in the CPC-endorsed Good Jobs for Good Airports Act. We will keep fighting for legislation that improves the passenger experience, protects the environment, and empowers workers.” 

Recent polling by Data for Progress showed that the Biden Administration's automatic refund requirement, now codified in this bill, is overwhelmingly popular, with 84 percent of Americans supporting the policy, including 80 percent of Republicans. Only 18 percent of Americans agreed that passengers should have to proactively request a refund for delayed or canceled flights.