In a sharp retort Thursday, Hensarling accused Warren of waving a "bloody shirt" — a post-Civil War era reference to the blood of martyrs. In defending the bill's restrictions on Operation Choke Point, Hensarling said that the "American people have not lost their ability to be outraged at those who may possess Ivy League degrees and Washington addresses, who have the arrogance to tell them what is best for them, their businesses, their lives and their families."

Luetkemeyer, who has spearheaded a fight against Operation Choke Point for several years, said the Justice Department "believes and knows they are doing something wrong, and still does it."

But Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the top-ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, said Republicans were using an attack on Choke Point to mask a larger attack on federal oversight of banks.

"They will talk about guns, they will talk about Choke Point, they will talk about unfairness" to small business owners, Waters said. "They will talk about everything except the real point of this legislation."