President Donald Trump’s latest proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, a position most House Republicans staunchly oppose, caught most lawmakers off guard.
One Republican, who sits on the Financial Services Committee, told NOTUS they “had no clue what was coming.”
“Can’t figure out what the legal authority would be or how it would be implemented,” they said. “Classic example of administration shooting from the hip.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson was quick to pour cold water on the idea Tuesday, saying it could have “negative secondary side effects.” On Wednesday, it was difficult to find any Republican who backed the idea.
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The rift is the latest sign of the fraying relationship between Trump and House Republicans, who are all over the place when it comes to plans to address affordability and how to do so.
Some Republicans have a message for Trump, while they try to come up with their own cohesive message on costs. “Stop proposing this populist shit,” one senior House Republican told NOTUS.
“If you shut the ability down to make money off the interest rates to protect against the default, then they’re gonna say, ‘well, we can’t have as much access to credit for all these people,’” the senior GOP member added. “Access to credit is a huge deal, especially for people living paycheck to paycheck. So, it’s going to be a disaster for the economy because you’ll see consumer spending just drop.”
Members who spoke with NOTUS said they were blindsided by the announcement and have not heard a rationale from the administration as to why this was proposed or how it would be implemented. The White House did not return a request for comment.
Interest rate caps require congressional approval, or risk another drawn-out legal battle over a presidential policy, like the Trump administration is waging on tariffs.
Banks and credit card companies have been quick to criticize the proposals, warning that interest rate caps would lead them to reduce the supply of credit to consumers. The average annual percentage rate was 22.3% in November 2025, according to Federal Reserve data. Even airlines have weighed in; their margins are padded with billions of dollars in profits from credit card offerings.
But consumers are drowning in more credit card debt than ever before. It hit a record $1.23 trillion in the third quarter of 2025, compared to $927 billion at the end of 2019, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Those statistics give some members pause, but no Republican who spoke with NOTUS would say a cap is a way to solve the issue.
“I understand what the president is trying to do,” Rep. Troy Downing, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, told NOTUS. “I mean, everybody’s worried about costs. Everybody’s talking about how expensive it is for an average American to make their bills…I think we need to explore this more and find ways of dealing with that without putting government-mandated caps. I think that’s not necessarily the correct way to go.”
Rep. Byron Donalds, another Financial Services member, emphasized there are costs for credit card companies that take on unsecured debt.
“My concern on rate caps is that it actually dries up consumer credit, and a lot of people who would be looking for assistance to move month to month, and get through the month, they would actually see their credit dry up,” Donalds said. “It has a direct impact on small business owners because there’s less money in the system for them to be able to make their revenue numbers.”
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, whose Pennsylvania seat is a top target for Democrats in 2026, said he is weighing both sides of the debate on interest rate caps.
“We absolutely want to make sure that consumers get the best possible rates that they can in the market and bring down costs for them. At the same time, there are situations where people need to utilize credit, and we want to make sure that those options continue to be available,” Mackenzie said.
Changing interest rates, though, will likely require legislation by Congress, the Republican added.
“Coming from a state legislature, there are all kinds of state caps on different financial services products already at the state level,” Mackenzie said. “You’re probably going to need legislation.”
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