Warren Delivers Opening Remarks Ahead of First-Ever Party Line Committee Vote on Fed Chair

Warren Delivers Opening Remarks Ahead of First-Ever Party Line Committee Vote on Fed Chair

"Members of this Committee who vote for Mr. Warsh and help facilitate President Trump's takeover of America's central bank, will come to regret it."

Watch markup, opening statement here (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, delivered opening remarks at the committee markup of Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee for Chair of the Federal Reserve. Today's markup represented the first-ever party line vote for Chair of the Federal Reserve in the history of the Senate Banking Committee.

Below is Ranking Member Warren's opening statement as delivered:

Mr. Chairman, we should not be voting today on Kevin Warsh's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve.

The Trump economy is in real trouble:

Inflation is up.

Job creation is down.

The stink of stagflation is in the air.

And President Trump is getting desperate.

A vote today by this committee to advance Mr. Warsh will bring the President one step closer to completing his illegal attempt to seize control of the Fed and to artificially juice the economy.

Trump has not been subtle about his takeover. He's threatened to fire the Fed chair, he's actually tried to fire a Fed governor, and he's started not one, but TWO bogus criminal investigations to push them out. When this committee refused to move on his new nominee under such circumstances, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that she would, quote, "close" the bogus criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jay Powell while the Federal Reserve Inspector takes up the inquiry. This was the trigger for getting to today's markup.

I understand wanting to believe that there is finally an end to the President's demands to take over the Fed. But no one is fooled. Trump is still going after control of the Fed, and he is keeping the threat of bogus criminal charges alive until he gets what he wants.

Don't take it from me. Take it from President Trump, who said the investigation is quote "not dropped."

Or, take it from the President's spokeswoman, who said, quote, "the investigation still continues."

Or, take it from U.S. Attorney Pirro, who said that she, quote, "will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation."

Or, take it from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said quote "This is an investigation. And so I'm not going to pre-judge what the investigation will find and say there's absolutely going to be charges or absolutely not going to be charges."

Mr. Chairman, I ask that these statements be entered into the record.

President Trump is also still trying to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook - taking it all the way to the United States Supreme Court -and the DOJ's reported criminal probe against her is ongoing.

These are uniquely dangerous circumstances to advance any Fed Chair nominee. But Mr. Warsh is a uniquely unfit candidate.

He had a catastrophic tenure as a Fed Governor before, during, and after the 2008 financial crisis. Despite bailing out Wall Street and selling out American families, he has said repeatedly, he has "no regrets."

If confirmed, he will enter the office with more than $100 million in secret financial assets. He won't even disclose whether his plan to divest relies on a billionaire investor cutting him a massive check.

At his hearing last week, Mr. Warsh dug the hole deeper. He had a chance to demonstrate just a teeny bit of independence from Mr. Trump, and he just couldn't do it. Mr. Warsh is a Trump sock puppet who is so cowed by the President that he could not even say that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

Members of this Committee who vote for Mr. Warsh and help facilitate President Trump's takeover of the central bank, will come to regret it. Unfortunately, it will be American families that will pay the price.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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