Senate Banking Committee votes on Kevin Warsh's nomination for Federal Reserve chair

[0:00] I'm going to turn to our ranking member for some opening comments. [0:04] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [0:05] Mr. Chairman, we should not be voting today on Kevin Warsh's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve. [0:10] The Trump economy is in real trouble. [0:13] Inflation is up. [0:14] Job creation is down. [0:16] The stink of stagflation is in the air. [0:19] And President Trump is getting desperate. [0:22] A vote today by this committee to advance Mr. Warsh [0:26] will bring the president one step closer to completing his illegal attempt [0:30] to seize control of the Fed and to artificially juice the economy. [0:36] Trump has not been subtle about his takeover. [0:40] He's threatened to fire the Fed chair. [0:42] He's actually tried to fire a Fed governor. [0:45] And he started not one but two bogus criminal investigations to push them out. [0:51] When this committee refused to move on his new nominee under such circumstances, [0:57] U.S. Attorney Ginny Barrow announced that she would, quote, [1:03] close the bogus criminal investigation into Fed Chair Powell [1:07] while the Federal Reserve inspector takes up the inquiry. [1:12] This was the trigger for getting to today's markup. [1:16] Now, I understand wanting to believe that there is finally an end [1:20] to the president's demands to take over the Fed. [1:22] But no one is fooled. [1:25] Trump is still going after control of the Fed, [1:28] and he is keeping the threat of bogus criminal charges alive [1:32] until he gets what he wants. [1:35] Don't take it from me. [1:37] Take it from President Trump, [1:39] who said the investigation is, quote, [1:42] quote, not dropped. [1:44] Or take it from the president's spokeswoman, [1:47] who said, quote, [1:49] the investigation still continues. [1:52] Or take it from U.S. Attorney Pirro, [1:55] who said that she, quote, [1:57] will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation. [2:02] Or take it from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, [2:06] who said, quote, [2:07] quote, this is an investigation, [2:09] so I'm not going to prejudge what the investigation will find [2:14] and say there's absolutely going to be charges [2:16] or absolutely not going to be charges. [2:19] Mr. Chairman, [2:20] I ask that these statements be entered into the record. [2:24] President Trump is also still trying to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, [2:30] taking it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. [2:33] And the DOJ's reported criminal probe against her is ongoing. [2:40] These are uniquely dangerous circumstances [2:43] to advance any Fed chair nominee. [2:46] But Mr. Warsh is uniquely an unfit candidate. [2:52] He had a catastrophic tenure as a Fed governor before, [2:56] during, and after the 2008 financial crisis. [3:00] Despite bailing out Wall Street and selling out American families, [3:04] he has said repeatedly he has no regrets. [3:08] If confirmed, he will enter the office [3:10] with more than $100 million in secret financial assets. [3:14] He won't even disclose whether his plan to divest [3:17] relies on a billionaire investor cutting him a massive check. [3:23] At his hearing last week, Mr. Warsh dug the hole deeper. [3:26] He had a chance to demonstrate just a teeny bit of independence [3:30] from Mr. Trump, and he just couldn't do it. [3:34] Mr. Warsh is a Trump sock puppet [3:37] who is so cowed by the president [3:40] that he could not even say that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. [3:44] Members of this committee who vote for Mr. Warsh [3:47] and help facilitate President Trump's takeover of the central bank [3:51] will come to regret it. [3:53] Unfortunately, it will be American families that will pay the price. [3:58] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [3:59] Thank you. [4:01] This committee will come to order. [4:02] We now have a quorum. [4:04] I call the committee into executive session. [4:07] We will now move to an in-block on Mr. Kevin Warsh [4:11] to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve [4:15] for a term expiring 2040, [4:17] and chairman for a term of four years. [4:21] The clerk will call the roll. [4:26] Mr. Chairman? [4:26] Aye. [4:29] Mr. Crapo? [4:30] Aye. [4:32] Mr. Rounds? [4:33] Aye. [4:34] Mr. Tillis? [4:35] Aye. [4:35] Mr. Kennedy? [4:40] Mr. Haggerty? [4:41] Haggerty's aye. [4:43] Ms. Lummis? [4:44] Aye. [4:45] Mrs. Britt? [4:48] Mr. Ricketts? [4:49] Aye. [4:50] Mr. Banks? [4:51] Aye. [4:51] Mr. Kramer? [4:53] Aye. [4:55] Mr. Moreno? [4:56] Aye. [4:57] Mr. McCormick? [4:59] Aye. [5:02] Ms. Warren? [5:02] Ms. Warren? [5:37] No by proxy. [5:40] Mr. Reid? [5:41] No by proxy. [5:43] Mr. Warner? [5:44] No by proxy. [5:45] Mr. Van Hollen? [5:46] No by proxy. [5:48] Ms. Cortez Masto? [5:49] No by proxy. [5:51] Ms. Smith? [5:51] No by proxy. [5:55] Mr. Warnock? [5:57] No. [6:00] Mr. Kim? [6:01] No by proxy. [6:02] Mr. Gallego? [6:04] No by proxy. [6:06] Ms. Blunt-Rochester? [6:07] No by proxy. [6:08] Ms. Alsobrooks? [6:10] No by proxy. [6:12] Mr. Chairman, the vote is 13 in favor and 11 opposed. [6:15] Senator Tillis is now recognized. [6:23] I don't want to delay things. [6:25] Look, I just disagree with everything the ranking member had to say. [6:29] Everybody, it's no secret that the reason that Mr. Warsh's nomination could have been held [6:36] up is because of my concern with the investigation. [6:38] I want to thank the Department of Justice for the assurances that they gave me. [6:42] They are going through with the appeal. [6:43] The appeal has no impact on reopening the investigation. [6:47] They have a matter that they want to settle, which is fine with me. [6:51] I've got confidence that this investigation is over, that Horowitz, who I believe is one [6:59] of the best inspector generals in the whole of government, is going to study this. [7:02] He has referral power. [7:04] If he believes that there was criminal activity, then he would refer it. [7:09] But the fact of the matter is, this was based on two minutes of testimony. [7:12] It was not criminal. [7:13] Seven witnesses on this committee agreed with it. [7:15] It's done. [7:17] And I think that Senator Warren, I get that she wants to score some political points, but [7:21] she is flatly wrong on every point she just tried to make. [7:24] Thank you. [7:25] Yes, sir. [7:26] I reserve the right to provide some comments and perspectives, as well as color on the comments [7:31] as well. [7:32] Kevin Walsh's leadership is absolutely essential now at the Federal Reserve than ever before. [7:41] Frankly, his time as a former governor of the Federal Reserve during the crisis makes [7:47] him battle-tested and ready to serve, and not only serve, but to lead. [7:52] I think it's incredibly important that we break the bind of Bidenomics in the households [7:59] of Americans all across this nation. [8:02] Let us never forget that it was the Biden administration that took inflation to 9% and interest rates [8:09] followed. [8:09] And as a result, we find ourselves in an economy that is actually improving because the American [8:18] people have the good conscience to change leadership of this nation to President Trump. [8:24] And as a result, we find ourselves now in an economy that is improving, but let's not be cute about it. [8:32] Digging out of the hole created by Bidenomics will take time, and that's what we need. [8:40] We need a Federal Reserve that is responsive to the needs of the American families more than the political will of whoever's in the White House. [8:50] I believe that the Federal Reserve will be more focused, more consistent with those needs than we have seen in the last several years. [8:59] Thank you very much, Brother Chair. I oppose Mr. Walsh's nomination today, and it comes at a critical time in our nation. [9:18] I respectfully disagree with the Chair that the economy is improving. This is Trump's economy, and I don't think the folks back at home in Georgia, a year and a half into Mr. Trump's administration, believe that this is somebody else's economy other than Donald Trump. [9:37] Which is why today's nomination is critically important. It is a nomination that has been tainted by the real and persistent threats that President Trump has made to members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. [9:51] The independence of the Fed is foundational to our system. [9:58] Mr. Walsh is correct that presidents and political leaders have previously called on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, but this is not just about interest rates. [10:08] President Trump's actions, including vicious attacks on current chair Jerome Powell, as well as his illegal attempt to fire Governor Lisa Cook, should give all of us pause and deep concern. [10:25] And yes, the president continues to threaten to illegally fire Chair Powell. This is not normal, and any effort to characterize it as such is blatantly false. [10:35] We are not dealing with business as usual. These are not normal times. During last week's hearing, we were limited to just five minutes of questioning, and the chair encouraged me and others to submit additional written questions for the record, which I did, with an open mind to this nomination and with the hope that Mr. Walsh would use this opportunity to provide us and the American people with more clarity into how he views the Fed's dual mandate, Fed independence, and the state of the American economy. [11:07] Particularly when it comes to maximizing employment and making sure folks can afford to provide for their families. [11:16] The written answers I and others on this committee got back were so woefully insufficient that I was left wondering if Mr. Walsh even read our questions. Did he take this process seriously? [11:31] I want to read just one example. I asked, quote, if President Trump or any future president attempts to unlawfully fire you without cause, would you leave? Would you leave the Federal Reserve? [11:47] His response, quote, I will not answer hypothetical questions of this nature. That was his answer. [11:56] Well, this isn't a hypothetical question. In fact, the president attempted to fire Governor Cook in the past year, and the president has repeatedly mused about firing Chair Powell because he won't bend to his interest rate demands, doing so as recently as two weeks ago, and Mr. Walsh says he won't answer hypothetical questions. [12:21] These are the answers that matter when looking at the future of the Fed and whether the body remains an independent steward of the American economy, which matters to millions of families all across this country, even as they're trying to make their lives work in this tough Trump economy. [12:41] America's markets are the envy of the world. Investors flock to the United States in large part because they trust that the Federal Reserve Board is free from political influence and political pressure and working families in Georgia and across the country struggling in this Trump economy deserve to know that the Fed is on their side, on their side, maximizing their chances to keep a good paying job and keeping their lives affordable. [13:10] Not on the side of the president's poll numbers or his political concerns as we approach the midterm. Fed independence is not theoretical. It matters to the everyday lives of working families. And for that reason, I vote no. Thank you, Mr. Chair. [13:26] Yes, sir. Thank you. The ayes have it. The nominations are hereby ordered reported favorably to the full Senate. Without any further statements, the executive session is now adjourned.