Senate narrowly blocks banking rule

WASHINGTON—Senate Republicans called on Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday night to break a tie vote and kill a proposed rule that would have stopped banks from imposing mandatory arbitration on customers to resolve disputes. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, a Democrat and Obama administration appointee, unveiled the rule in July. It would have banned most types of mandatory arbitration clauses found in user agreements when customers open checking accounts or obtain new credit cards and allowed customers to band together to sue banks or credit card companies over disputes. “Wall Street won and ordinary people lost,” Cordray said after the vote. The Congressional Review Act allowed the Senate to sidestep the filibuster rule and block the regulation with a simple majority. All 48 Democrats voted for the rule, and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Kennedy of Louisiana joined them. Pence’s vote sends the resolution to President Donald Trump, who expects to sign it, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. “The rule would harm our community banks and credit unions by opening the door to frivolous lawsuits by special interest trial lawyers,” she said in a statement.