Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) is back at it, once again threatening to derail military funding by demanding a vote on his and Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) credit card bill, which has enraged Senate Republicans.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters on Wednesday that Marshall put a hold on the Senate “minibus” appropriations bill for agriculture, military, and transportation programs. Marshall wants a vote on his and Durbin’s legislation, the Credit Card Competition Act.
Collins expressed severe concerns because the bill is not germane, or related, to the minibus spending bill and it has not been considered through its committee of origin, otherwise known as “regular order.”
Describing the legislation as “very controversial,” she said, “And it obviously is not germane. It’s a major bill. It hasn’t been through committee, unlike this shutdown bill. And so, we’ll have to see what happens, but we’re working on that. So, we’re down to only a couple of holds that we need to work out. So, we’re continuing to work. It takes a lot of time and patience, but we’re continuing to do so.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) put a hold on the legislation because he objected to bundling multiple appropriations bills together. Despite his process objections, Punchbowl News reported that Marshall was proving to be a “tougher case.”
According to a Senate source, during the Senate Republican lunch on Wednesday, Members slammed Marshall’s move to politicize the funding bill with his Durbin-led credit card legislation. Some even felt that they should have put a hold on his bill.
Outlets such as Punchbowl News have noted that Marshall has repeatedly demanded a vote on his contentious bill, which is unrelated to defense, agriculture, or transportation programs.
“Visa and Mastercard’s duopolistic, heavy-handed market practices have disproportionately hurt American families and small businesses for far too long,” Marshall said at a Wednesday press conference on his proposal.
However, Senate leadership has promised Marshall a vote on his legislation with Durbin, which calls into question why he would seek to derail military funding as the federal government barrels toward a government shutdown.
Advancing American Freedom, which is aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence, said last week they oppose this legislation.
Sen. Marshall said in a statement to Breitbart News, “I was given assurances from Leadership that the Credit Card Competition Act would be coming up for a vote this fall — here we are. This bill requires members to publicly decide whether they will stand with our nation’s small businesses or if they are more worried about protecting the 32 largest mega banks in the country that are price-gouging Americans and crushing Main Street businesses. The swamp is hard at work trying to block my bill so they do not have to go on the record — but I want everyone to know that I don’t care how deep their pockets are, my fight will always be for the mom-and-pop shops over Wall Street.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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