At least 15 million Americans may be affected after a Texas court reversed a Biden-era policy that aimed to remove medical debt from credit reports. Per The Hill, U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan made the ruling on Friday, saying the Fair Credit Reporting Act doesn’t give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau authority to wipe away medical debt from credit reports. Donald Trump appointed Jordan during his first term as president.
What did Joe Biden’s administration say about clearing medical debt?
Joe Biden’s administration planned to remove at least $50 billion of medical debt from millions of Americans with the policy he passed during his term. Former Vice President Kamala Harris also showed support for removing medical debt during her 2024 presidential campaign.
“No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency,” Harris said during her campaign, per The Hill. “We also reduced the burden of medical debt by increasing pathways to forgiveness and cracking down on predatory debt-collection tactics.”
Still, Donald Trump’s closest supporters are praising the latest ruling. Dan Smith, head of the Consumer Data Industry Association, expressed his support in a statement to Reuters.
“This is the right outcome for protecting the integrity of the system,” Smith said, per Reuters.
What are other actions Donald Trump aimed to take against the CFPB?
Trump attempted to dismantle the CFPB earlier this year, but his plan was blocked by the federal court. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson stopped the administration from firing CFPB employees, The Hill reported. She also allowed for previously terminated workers to be reinstated.
Trump’s effort to dismantle the CFPB is part of his plan to tear down several other government agencies that he sees as a waste of money. As part of that effort, the president recently signed a spending and tax bill that could take away Medicaid from millions of people.