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Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (Fed) calling for a reconsideration of the anti-competitive Capital One-Discover merger that the Fed recently approved. The lawmakers invoked their right under the Fed’s Rules of Procedure, as commenters on the merger application, to request a formal reconsideration, which will require a response from the Fed.

The lawmakers outlined their concerns with the implications of the merger: “Merchants would have no choice but to accept the terms dictated by Capital One’s network, since they need to access the customers of the largest credit card issuer in the country. The market power created by combining Capital One’s card base with Discover’s network explains why Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank described the acquisition of the network as a ‘holy grail.’”

The lawmakers also pointed to recent developments not considered by the Board, including the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs, the onboarding of DOGE at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, new data on credit card stress, and the Trump-Musk attack on the CFPB, writing “the Board is creating the largest credit card issuer in the country at the very moment the Trump administration is attempting to shut down the only agency with legal authority to regulate, supervise, and enforce federal consumer financial laws against the combined entity.”

The lawmakers concluded: “The Board’s failure to adhere to the legal requirements of the Bank Holding Company Act and Administrative Procedure Act, as well as these relevant facts not previously presented to the Board, necessitate an immediate stay and reconsideration of the Order.”

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