House votes to cancel CFPB rule favoring class-action suits in finance

Overshadowed by their Senate counterparts’ efforts to advance healthcare legislation, House Republicans voted Tuesday to cancel a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule meant to open up finance to class-action lawsuits, a move that kicked off a heated debate over the role of government.

The lower chamber voted 231-190 to undo the agency’s forced arbitration rule, which would restrict banks and other financial firms from preventing customers from joining in a class-action lawsuit by including provisions in contracts for financial products that steer complaints into private arbitration.