Profile in Cowardice: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)

Over the past six years, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has called attention to scores of Profiles in Courage, and a sorry handful of Profiles in Cowardice. Some public figures, such as Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Cumming, have proven so exemplary that they have merited two positive write-ups from TPA (Cumming probably deserves more). But never—until now—have we given someone the unenvious distinction of being a two-time Profile in Cowardice. That changes today with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who has repeatedly pushed reckless policies that would kneecap American innovation and jeopardize credit card rewards for millions of Americans. And now that the lawmaker is retiring and immune from electoral accountability, Sen. Durbin is unfortunately in a better position than ever to push for heavy-handed regulations. Let’s hope this Profile in Cowardice quietly exits political life without making life even more difficult for millions of taxpayers and consumers.

To Sen. Durbin, new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)—which has already created millions of jobs and has made living, learning, and working far easier—are too dangerous to keep advancing without bureaucrats’ permission. He recently stated, “I think this is serious enough that the leaders in this field, and some of them I’ve met personally, are telling us we need to slow down some parts of this. It’s moving too fast, beyond our control.” Durbin cited “the vulnerability of the United States today to our enemies,” failing to grasp that this vulnerability will be magnified if the U.S. regulates its way out of AI development and cedes leadership to adversaries such as China. Undeterred by reality, Durbin has pushed for dramatically expanding liability for AI developers, which would be great for trial lawyers but effectively sue this promising new technology out of existence.

When Durbin isn’t busy railing against AI, he’s trying to go after Americans’ debit and credit card rewards. The lawmaker inserted an amendment into the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that arbitrarily capped debit interchange fees—or charges paid by merchants to card-issuing banks for processing transactions. Ranging from rampant fraud to increases in the cost of everyday banking services, this led to an array of unintended consequences. Meanwhile, the vast majority of merchants—who the “Durbin Amendment” was designed to help—did not report lower costs or debt. One might think this would have taught Sen. Durbin the folly of the government micromanaging the economy. One would be wrong.

Sen. Durbin continues to push for the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), which would mandate that card issuers allow merchants to use more payment networks in processing credit card transactions. If enacted, this reckless proposal—which aims to reduce interchange fees paid by merchants—would be the end of credit card rewards for millions of Americans. As NerdWallet writers Sara Rathner and Kenley Young note, “If you’re a committed credit card rewards optimizer sitting on a pile of points and miles, the possibility that the Credit Card Competition Act would pass is likely making you sweat. A major concern is that with reduced income from [interchange] fees, credit card issuers will cut back on their rewards programs and partnerships with airline loyalty programs.”

Currently, there are more than 31 million U.S. airline credit cardholders—and about 200 million Americans who benefit from credit card rewards. An astounding 15 million domestic trips were awarded and earned through airline credit card points in 2024. The CCCA would make earning points (and free trips) a thing of the past, to the detriment of travelers across the country. The legislation would also mean fewer security features available to credit card consumers because issuers would have less of an incentive to invest in payment network infrastructure. Yet, Sen. Durbin marches on, shamelessly trying to plug the CCCA into completely unrelated legislation.

Sen. Durbin has spent much of his career making life more difficult for millions of Americans. Let’s hope that this Profile in Cowardice takes pity on his constituents and quits while he is behind.