Majority Press Releases
Brown Pushes Bank Regulators to Protect Consumers and Communities When Reviewing Mergers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, urged the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to ensure their updated bank merger policies will adequately scrutinize mergers’ effects on consumers and communities. “Last year’s bank failures coupled with an increasing trend towards concentration in the banking industry demonstrate the immediate need for t… Continue Reading
June 13, 2024
Brown Statement on Christy Goldsmith Romero Nomination to Chair the FDIC
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, congratulated Christy Goldsmith Romero on her nomination to be Chair of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and issued the following statement: “Christy Goldsmith Romero, who has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate twice, would bring to the FDIC decades of financial services experience, including valuable experience as … Continue Reading
June 12, 2024
Brown: The CFPB Stands Up for Consumers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Semi-Annual Report to Congress.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follow: Last month, we defeated the latest in a long, long line of attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by the corporate interests that want the agency of… Continue Reading
June 11, 2024
CFPB Heeds Brown Call to Eliminate Medical Debt from Consumers’ Credit Reports
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new proposal to eliminate medical debt from consumer credit reports: “Medical debt can happen to anyone, at any time, and does not reflect creditworthiness. No one should be forced to pay higher rates for a mortgage or a car loan or deal with aggressive debt collectors, just because th… Continue Reading
May 22, 2024
Brown Presses DoorDash on High-Cost Loans to Small Businesses
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, raised concerns about DoorDash advertising merchant cash advance (MCA) products to small businesses on its platform. “MCAs are often high cost: merchants have paid the equivalent of interest rates over 800 percent or even higher in connection with MCAs,” wrote Brown. “The high cost of many MCAs—especially when combined with renewing or stacking advances—creates a… Continue Reading
May 20, 2024
Brown Calls for New Leadership at the FDIC
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, issued the following statement calling for new leadership at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC): “After chairing last week’s hearing, reviewing the independent report, and receiving further outreach from FDIC employees to the Banking and Housing Committee, I am left with one conclusion: there must be fundamental changes at the FDIC. Those changes be… Continue Reading
May 16, 2024
Brown Reacts to Supreme Court Decision to Uphold the CFPB
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs released the following statement on the United States’ Supreme Court decision in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, to uphold the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). “Wall Street tried to use the courts to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and they failed. Powerful corpo… Continue Reading
May 16, 2024
Brown Holds Oversight Hearing with Financial Regulators
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Oversight of U.S. Financial Regulators: Accountability and Financial Stability.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follow: Today we’ll hear testimony from three key financial regulators whose agencies are responsible for protecting our banking system and making sure it serves al… Continue Reading
May 14, 2024
Brown: Fed’s Updated Stock Trading Rules Fall Short
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement on the Federal Reserve’s update to trading rules for members of the Federal Reserve Board and governors. “Public officials, whether at the Fed or in Congress, must serve the American people - not their own stock portfolios. The Board’s latest update to its trading rules still fails to establish the clear penalties needed for Fed… Continue Reading
May 9, 2024
Brown Demands Answers on Amazon and Walmart’s Use of So-Called “Dynamic Pricing”
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, raised concerns about corporations unfairly hiking prices by exploiting customer data and using pricing algorithms. In letters to the CEOs of Amazon and Walmart, Senator Brown made clear that “dynamic pricing” often leads to higher prices for consumers. He pressed for answers on how the companies are using these new technologies to set prices. “Prices are still t… Continue Reading
May 9, 2024
Brown: Corporate Junk Fees Raise Costs and Suppress Competition
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Consumer Protection: Examining Fees in Financial Services and Rental Housing.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follow: Costs are far too high for Americans. And corporations are finding more and more ways to raise those costs, to boost their own profits. We’ve talked about ho… Continue Reading
May 7, 2024
Brown Statement on Independent FDIC Report
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, released the following statement regarding the independent review of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) workplace culture. “The FDIC needs to be fixed. The women and men who work there deserve better,” said Brown. “Chair Gruenberg must accept responsibility and must immediately work to make fundamental changes to the agency and its culture.” ###… Continue Reading
May 2, 2024
Brown: Corporate Price-Gouging Tactics Distort the Market and Drive Inflation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Higher Prices: How Shrinkflation and Technology Can Impact Consumers’ Finances.” Senator Brown introduced the Shrinkflation Prevention Act in February to take on corporations raising Americans’ costs by reducing the size of their products. Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follo… Continue Reading
April 24, 2024
SIGNED INTO LAW: Brown’s Bill to Crack Down on Fentanyl Traffickers Becomes Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) bipartisan legislation to crack down on fentanyl traffickers in Mexico and China was signed into law as part of the bipartisan national security legislation. The FEND Off Fentanyl Act takes action to expand sanctions to illicit fentanyl traffickers in Mexico and the creators of precursor chemicals in China. Senator Brown worked with law enforcement to craft the legislation, and national and Ohio law enforcement praised the bill’s pass… Continue Reading
April 23, 2024
BREAKING:Brown’s Bill to Crack Down on Fentanyl Traffickers Heads to the President’s Desk
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Senate today passed U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) legislation to crack down on fentanyl traffickers in Mexico and China in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote. The bill, which is part of the bipartisan national security package, is now headed to the President’s desk where it will be signed into law, finally taking action to expand sanctions to illicit fentanyl traffickers in Mexico and the creators of precursor chemicals in China. “Fentanyl has taken too many liv… Continue Reading
April 18, 2024
Brown, Reed Push Big Banks to Protect Consumers from Wire Fraud
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Jack Reed (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Banking and Housing Committee, are pushing the nation’s four largest banks to protect consumers from costly and damaging wire fraud. In a letter to the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citi, the Senators press the banks to provide data on wire fraud at their banks and information about t… Continue Reading
April 18, 2024
Brown to Regulators: All of Us Must Work Together to Lower Housing Costs
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “Oversight of Federal Housing Regulators.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follow: Home is a lot more than four walls and a roof. Home is where you go after a long day at work. It’s where your kids play and do their homework. It’s where you plan for the future and build wealth… Continue Reading
April 9, 2024
Brown to Adeyemo: We Must Crack Down on Illicit Finance to Protect Our National Security
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled, “An Update from the Treasury Department: Countering Illicit Finance, Terrorism and Sanctions Evasion.” Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery follow: We face threats to American national security and global stability every day. Autocrats and terrorists and drug traffickers work to un… Continue Reading
March 25, 2024
Brown Has Introduced Bills to Create and Preserve Affordable Housing
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, has introduced a set of bills to lower housing costs for Americans by creating and preserving affordable housing. The Housing Supply Fund Act and the Affordable Housing Preservation and Protection Act will help to expand and preserve the supply of affordable housing, creating more options for renters and homeowners. “All over Ohio, I hear from renters and homeowners who… Continue Reading
March 21, 2024
Brown, Colleagues Urge CFPB to Remove Medical Debt From Credit Reports, Ease Burden on Consumers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect Americans from predatory medical debt collection practices. Last year the CFPB announced several potentia… Continue Reading
