Congress did give Treasury the authority under Section 2201(h) of the CARES Act to write rules exempting the payments from private debt collectors. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on April 3, urging him to write rules to that effect. Brown later
teamed up with Republican Josh Hawley (R-MO) to ask for the same thing.
On Monday,
25 state attorneys general (23 Democrats and two Republicans) also asked for Treasury to issue regulations to protect CARES Act payments from garnishment. Numerous consumer advocates have sought this clarification as well. “[Treasury] has the ability to say that these payments are exempt, and they’re not doing so,” said Lisa Stifler, who leads debt collection work at the Center for Responsible Lending.