A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to the withdrawal of the rule relating to "Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F); Deceptive and Unfair Collection of Medical Debt".

Plain-English Summary

This resolution is Congress's way of saying "no" to a recent decision made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the federal agency that oversees financial products and consumer protections. Specifically, it targets the CFPB's decision to *withdraw* a rule that had been designed to limit how debt collectors can pursue people over medical bills. In other words, the CFPB previously decided to cancel a consumer protection rule — and this resolution is an attempt to block that cancellation and potentially keep those protections in place.

The original rule in question, known as "Regulation F" related to medical debt, was intended to restrict certain debt collection practices around medical bills — practices the rule had labeled as deceptive or unfair. When the CFPB withdrew that rule, it effectively removed those restrictions. This congressional resolution, introduced in the Senate, uses a legal tool called the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn federal agency decisions it disagrees with.

If this resolution passes both chambers of Congress and is signed into law, it would block the CFPB's withdrawal of the medical debt collection rule, potentially restoring restrictions on how debt collectors can contact and pursue Americans over unpaid medical bills. This would most directly affect people who have outstanding medical debt, as well as the debt collection industry that handles those accounts.

The resolution has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where it will be reviewed before any further action is taken.