Republicans in Congress have moved closer to rolling back an Obama-era regulation designed to prevent racial discrimination in auto financing, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Senate yesterday voted to proceed with legislation to overturn the 2013 guidance addressing lending practices at auto dealerships, one of the most controversial policies implemented by the Obama-era leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The procedural vote, approved 50-47 largely along the party lines, is seen as a proxy for the success of the final vote slated for tomorrow, according to congressional aides. The House is expected to approve its version of the legislation shortly thereafter. The lawmakers are targeting a CFPB regulation that curbed auto dealers’ ability to charge extra interest on certain loans. Alleging that some minority borrowers were charged more than white borrowers through a practice called “dealer markups,” the CFPB used the policy to impose tens of millions of dollars in fines on several auto lenders between 2013 and 2016, including Ally Financial Inc. and Toyota Motor Credit Corp.
