Congress Vetoes FTC’s New Subscription Rule, Keeping Auto-Renewals Status Quo

This Joint Resolution is a straight-up Congressional veto of a new rule the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was trying to put in place. Specifically, Congress is using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to disapprove the FTC’s proposed "Negative Option Rule," which deals with those annoying subscriptions and memberships that automatically renew unless you actively cancel them.

The Subscription Status Quo

What this bill does is simple: it stops the FTC’s new rule from ever taking effect. The FTC had published this rule, which would have likely established new, clearer standards for how companies must disclose terms, get consent, and make it easy for consumers to cancel these auto-renewing services. Think of your gym membership, streaming services, or that software subscription you forgot about. By rejecting the rule, Congress is essentially hitting the pause button on new consumer protections in this area. For consumers, this means the current, often frustrating, landscape of managing automatic renewals remains unchanged, including the often-tricky process of finding the cancellation button.

Who Benefits from the Veto?

When a federal agency rule gets blocked, it usually means relief for the businesses that would have had to comply with it. Companies that rely heavily on the "negative option" model—where the default is renewal—get to avoid the administrative headache and cost of updating their websites, contracts, and billing processes to meet the FTC’s proposed new standards. This includes everyone from major software firms to niche online retailers. Avoiding new compliance costs is a win for their bottom line, but it also means consumers lose out on the potential benefits of clearer disclosures and easier cancellation processes that the FTC was aiming for. If you’ve ever spent 20 minutes clicking through menus just to stop a service, you understand the practical impact here.

The Power of the Veto Pen

This move reinforces the power of the CRA, a legislative tool Congress can use to overturn regulations issued by federal agencies. It’s a powerful check on the administrative state. However, the flip side is that when Congress uses the CRA to block a rule intended to protect consumers, like this one, it leaves the public exposed to the same issues the agency was trying to fix. In this case, the specific concern is that the FTC’s proposed rule aimed to curb deceptive practices in the subscription economy—a multi-billion dollar market where consumers often struggle with hidden fees and difficult cancellations. By nullifying the rule, Congress has decided that the current level of protection is sufficient, even as many consumers continue to report issues with these "set it and forget it" charges.