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Democrats are still wrestling with how the party should sharpen or refocus its economic pitch after its disastrous 2024 election performance.
A new progressive group re-launching this morning has a pitch: A populist agenda to win the politics of debt.
The group, Protect Borrowers, is rolling out this morning with a strategy memo, new polling, and an advisory board stacked with some big names from progressive economic circles.
Democrats, the group argues, should be putting household debt -- both old-fashioned credit card, utility, and medical bills as well as the growing array of newfangled fintech credit products -- at the center of their economic fight.
"There are big corporations that at every step make life more expensive, and are working hand in glove with the Trump administration to jack up costs," said Mike Pierce, the group's executive director and co-founder, who said the organization is planning to take on Wall Street firms, Silicon Valley startups, governments and employers it says are driving families into debt.
Protect Borrowers' early targets include investigations and advocacy around Buy Now Pay Later products, fintech-bank partnerships, medical debt, rent-financing products, and the growing pile of debt Americans owe their utility companies.
The organization is a relaunch of the Student Borrower Protection Center, a group that became a thorn in the side of student loan servicers and helped push the Biden administration toward sweeping debt cancellation. That student debt work will continue, Pierce said, but the rebranded group is widening its scope to the broader consumer finance landscape.
"Big corporations are exploiting borrowers' economic precarity," Pierce told MM. "And having good villains -- and telling a true story -- is one of the only ways that you can actually be credible with the people that are struggling."
The backdrop is stark: Consumer debt has hit all-time highs, according to the New York Fed, while delinquency rates on credit cards and student loans have climbed above pre-pandemic levels.
In its strategy memo, Protect Borrowers leans on new polling with the Groundwork Collaborative that shows voters want action -- broad majorities support capping credit card interest rates, banning junk fees, and cracking down on predatory lending practices.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is backing the effort. "With wages flat and costs skyrocketing, families are drowning in debt -- mortgages, credit cards, student loans, buy now, pay later, you name it," she said in a statement. "Protect Borrowers is exposing how rigged our economy is, and how the Trump Administration is making it worse. I'm glad to stand with them in this fight."
New members joining the group's advisory board include: Seth Frotman, SBPC co-founder and former CFPB general counsel; Eric Halperin, former CFPB enforcement director; Nidhi Hegde, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project; Bonnie Latreille, SBPC co-founder and former deputy COO at Federal Student Aid; Sam Levine, former director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection; Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of Workshop; Julie Margetta Morgan, president of The Century Foundation; Cleveland City Council member Rebecca Maurer; Erie Meyer, former chief technologist at CFPB and FTC; Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative; Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward; Bharat Ramamurti, former deputy director of the National Economic Council; Josh Rovenger, legal director at GLAD; Jessica Rutter, former acting general counsel at the NLRB; Lorelei Salas, former supervision director at CFPB and commissioner of NYC Department of Consumer & Worker Protection; David Seligman, executive director of Towards Justice; and Astra Taylor, founder of the Debt Collective.
It's Tuesday -- As always, you can reach Sam at [email protected] with all your econ policy thoughts, Wall Street news, personnel moves or general insights.
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Director Andrea Gacki testifies in front of the House Financial Services Committee's national security panel at 10 a.m. ... The House Small Business Committee holds a markup of legislation to extend authorization for various small business programs at 10:30 a.m. ... The House Financial Services Committee's financial institutions subcommittee holds a hearing on the banking sector's health at 2 p.m.
Senate Banking sets Fed nominee vote: The panel is set to vote Wednesday on whether to advance Stephen Miran, Trump's nominee for a key vacancy on the board of the central bank, Jasper Goodman reports.
Meanwhile, Miran's team at the White House is preparing a report detailing alleged shortcomings with the Bureau of Labor Statistics' jobs data, per The Wall Street Journal's Brian Schwartz and Matt Grossman. Their report cites concerns that the report could be used as a basis to oust additional officials at the agency -- an assertion the White House denied to the Journal.
Key Senate Dems unveil crypto bill wish list: A group of Senate Democrats who have signaled interest in supporting industry-friendly cryptocurrency legislation released a framework Tuesday outlining what they hope to see in a bill to overhaul how digital assets are regulated that Republicans are aiming to pass this fall, Jasper reports. The memo -- released by 12 Democrats including Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Mark Warner of Virginia and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York -- "is a substantive road map to guide what we hope will be robust and fruitful bipartisan negotiations and ultimately, a bipartisan product," the senators said in a statement.It comes as Senate Republicans are gearing up to advance a crypto market structure bill out of the Banking Committee this month. GOP senators finalized a draft version of the legislation last Friday, but some Democrats have warned Republicans to pump the brakes in order to incorporate their changes.
First in MM: Dem group pitches 'middle class millionaires' policy -- A prominent center-left think tank is calling on Democrats to embrace a policy that would fund savings accounts for every American as part of the party's messaging entering the 2028 elections, Jasper reports.
Third Way, which has been rolling out a series of proposals aimed at influencing Democrats' policy direction, is pitching the party on a plan for the government to put $5,000 into retirement accounts for every citizen at birth. The accounts would grow over time with investment and employer contributions "on top of and separate from Social Security."
Similar ideas have kicked around for years, and Republicans even adopted a version of the policy as part of their "Big, Beautiful Bill" passed in July. Third Way wrote in a memo shared first with MM this morning that "unlike the Trump Accounts created in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, this is a universal and permanent proposal meant to revolutionize retirement wealth and savings -- not a fake way to provide benefits to the wealthy with inferior and complicated accounts."
"Personal Wealth Accounts will revolutionize how the middle class thrives in retirement," said the memo, authored by Third Way's Jim Kessler and Zach Moller. "A long-term savings vehicle, where the government gives you a little at birth and private contributions flow in during working years, will create a new generation of middle-class millionaires."
"Democrats need to be the party that builds and strengthens the middle class," they added. "This is a bold way to do just that."
Gould details his anti-debanking playbook:A top federal banking regulator announced Monday it may penalize banks that engage in "politicized or unlawful debanking" as they seek permission to open new branches or complete mergers and acquisitions.
The new guidance released by Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould is the most detailed explanation yet of how regulators will carry out President Donald Trump's sweeping executive order aimed at combating discrimination against conservatives and conservative-aligned industries by the banking system.
More to come: The OCC said it had requested information from its nine largest banks "regarding their debanking activities." And the regulator said it's also reviewing "consumer complaint data and data from other government and third-party sources" to further refine its efforts to uncover past episodes of debanking.
Economic headwinds to test Bessent's market whisperer role: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has weathered market turbulence from President Donald Trump's trade wars, the administration's clashes with the Federal Reserve and battles with fellow officials. But his biggest challenge may lie ahead, with signs that the economy is faltering just eight months into the Trump presidency.A more painful economic slowdown, particularly one accompanied by falling markets, would test Bessent's mettle in new ways, POLITICO's Victoria Guida, Dasha Burns, and Megan Messerly report.
D.C. takes on major Bitcoin ATM operator: District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb on Monday sued Athena Bitcoin, accusing the large crypto ATM company of enabling widespread fraud that targeted elderly customers while collecting steep, hidden fees.
The lawsuit alleges Athena Bitcoin failed to put in place adequate safeguards to protect customers. According to the complaint, 93 percent of deposits made at Athena's seven Bitcoin ATMs during the company's first five months of operation in Washington last year were linked to scams.
In a statement, Athena said it "strongly disagrees" with the allegations and would defend itself in court.
Nasdaq joins tokenized stock frenzy: Nasdaq is seeking to offer blockchain-based versions of U.S. stocks through one of its exchanges, an early move that underscores Wall Street's growing interest in the cryptocurrency world, Declan Harty reports.
The New York-based exchange giant proposed a series of rule changes to the SEC on Monday that would allow for the trading of Nasdaq-listed stocks in traditional or tokenized form, according to the filing.