Why are Republicans helping Dick Durbin gut Trump’s crypto bill?

Fifteen years ago, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) slipped an amendment into law that handed a $90 billion windfall to mega-retailers like Walmart and Target — while forcing everyday Americans to foot the bill.

Now he’s trying to do it again. This time, he’s recruited Republican help.

President Trump has made his priorities clear. He wants America to dominate in financial tech — not hand the future to China.

As a former chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises — and as a proud Trump ally — I’m alarmed that Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) has teamed up with Durbin to hijack one of the most important bills of the year: the Genius Act.

This legislation, backed by President Trump, would establish the first federal framework for stablecoins — digital dollars backed by U.S. currency and issued by trusted financial institutions. It’s the cornerstone of America’s entry into 21st-century digital payments and a key to ensuring that we — not China — lead the future of global finance.

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have made the bill a top priority. “We’re optimistic that the Senate is able to move quickly on passing a clean Genius Act and for the House to follow up and do the same,” Vance told attendees at the Bitcoin 2025 Conference in Nashville.

But that momentum will vanish if Marshall and Durbin succeed in attaching their so-called Credit Card Competition Act. This isn’t reform — it’s the Durbin Amendment 2.0, and we’ve already seen how that story ends.

In 2010, despite widespread opposition, Durbin passed his original amendment, shifting the cost of payment processing from big-box retailers onto credit card companies. He promised that consumers would benefit when retailers passed along those savings.

They didn’t.

A Federal Reserve-backed study later found that only 1% of merchants passed savings on to customers. Meanwhile, 22% raised prices. Card companies — forced to absorb the new costs — cut back on free checking accounts and slashed debit card rewards programs. The number of cardholders earning rewards dropped 30%.

Main Street lost. Big box stores cashed in. Even the left-leaning Progressive Policy Institute now admits the amendment failed and has urged Congress to “rethink” the policy.

The Credit Card Competition Act would repeat the mistake, but with credit cards. It would force every credit card to operate on at least two payment networks, letting mega-retailers route transactions through the cheapest — and often least secure — option. They’d pocket the savings. Consumers wouldn’t see a dime.

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Photo by IAN MAULE/AFP via Getty Images

Under the current system, consumers choose the networks by picking the cards they want to carry. Merchants choose which cards to accept. That’s the free market. The CCCA would dismantle that system and take away the rewards — cash back, airline miles, travel perks — that millions of Americans rely on.

Amazon, Walmart, and Target would benefit. Rural consumers, community banks, and small businesses would lose.

If this poison-pill amendment gets attached to the Genius Act, the bill’s broad bipartisan support will vanish. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has already warned he’ll withdraw support if Durbin 2.0 gets jammed into the final package.

Congress must not let backroom deals or crony carve-outs derail this legislation. The Genius Act should be an easy win for consumers, tech innovation, and U.S. leadership in digital finance.

President Trump has made his priorities clear. He wants America to dominate in financial technology — not hand the future to China. His administration supports clear, commonsense rules that unlock innovation, protect consumers, and safeguard the dollar’s global status.

The Genius Act achieves all of that — if lawmakers pass it clean.

Republicans can’t claim to support Trump’s economic agenda while carrying water for woke corporations and their favorite Democrat senator. They need to decide: Stand with Main Street or sell out to K Street. Back American innovation or stick with the same tired crony playbook.

The country doesn’t need another Durbin amendment. It needs leadership.