Senate deals death blow to Durbin II inclusion in FAA

Al Drago/Bloomberg

WASHINGTON  — The Durbin credit card bill failed to pass a procedural vote that would have allowed it to be attached to the bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration, one of the final must-pass funding bills before the presidential election. 

The Senate defeated Sen. Roger Marshall's effort to attach the Credit Card Competition Act to the FAA package handily by a vote of 85-12 Wednesday night. Marshall, along with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., are the primary sponsors of the credit card legislation. 

"For too long, the Visa-Mastercard duopoly has used money and influence in Washington to turn politicians' eyes away from predatory swipe fees," Marshall said. "Right now the Visa-Mastercard duopoly and foreign megabanks are robbing our American small businesses at the highest rate in the world."

The amendment failed, in part, because of fears of attaching superfluous items to the FAA that fall outside the strict remit of air travel. House GOP leaders, according to multiple committee sources familiar with the Durbin amendment negotiations, said that a number of other bills were also taken off the table ahead of its Friday deadline. 

The swipe fee bill would mandate that card payments be routed over at least one network other than Mastercard and Visa. Proponents of the bill argue that it would reduce so-called swipe fees, while banks and the bill's detractors say that it's essentially a giveaway to large retailers. 

Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Cowen, said in a note that the vote signifies lawmakers' unwillingness to address credit card interchange rates this year. 

"This is because it was essentially a free vote as there was no way senators were going to risk the FAA bill by opening it to amendments," he said. "That means up to 37 more senators could have earned goodwill from the merchants by backing Marshall." 

The next and most germane bill that the Durbin-Marshall could seek to attach itself to would be a must-pass tax package coming next year as Congress looks to address the expiring Trump-era individual tax cuts. 

"That package will require significant deal-making, which is why Marshall and Durbin may end up with the leverage they need to get a vote on their amendment," Seiberg said.