Warren Statement on Trump Nominees for HUD and Treasury

Warren Statement on Trump Nominees for HUD and Treasury

"At a time when Americans are struggling to afford essentials-and with the Administration stripping away affordable health care and raising premiums for tens of millions of Americans-it is irresponsible for Congress to advance these nominees."

Watch Speech Here (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, gave opening remarks before an executive session vote on four Trump Administration nominees: Jonathan Burke, to be Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury; Ben Hobbs, to be Assistant Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Ronnie Kurtz, to be Assistant Secretary, HUD; and Christopher Pilkerton to be Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury.

Below is Ranking Member Warren's opening statement:

Senator Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

So this evening, President Trump and Congressional Republicans are barreling toward a shut down because they would rather shut down the government than roll back the cuts that will kick 15 million people off their health care and raise insurance premiums for tens of millions more. I think that's shameful.

And, as we head into a potential shutdown, President Trump is pushing forward with a $20 billion bailout to Argentina. That's $20 BILLION for Argentina, right after Argentina struck a deal with China that knocked the legs out from under American farmers who are already struggling with Trump's sweeping tariffs. How does that make any sense at all?

Trump's misguided economic agenda is inflicting real pain on American families-and it is about to get worse. A whole lot worse.

But we sit here today ready to rush through another batch of Trump's nominees as if it's business as usual.

Mr. Kurtz, nominated to lead Community and Development Planning at HUD, has refused to protect programs that are critical to increasing housing supply and lowering housing costs. In other words, he's signing on to the Administration's agenda to keep housing unaffordable just as Trump's tariffs drive up construction costs and his newly announced tariffs on kitchen cabinets threaten to push prices for homes even higher.

Mr. Hobbs, nominated to lead Public and Indian Housing at HUD, is already undermining the agency's mission in his current role as Deputy Assistant Secretary-actively implementing punitive and costly measures that weaken the ways HUD could help in a housing crisis.

Mr. Pilkerton, nominated to lead Investment Security at Treasury, would be responsible for ensuring that transactions involving foreign companies do not jeopardize our national security. That's a very important job. But this Administration treats our economic and national security like trinkets at a fire sale, ready for whichever billionaire drops by-and Mr. Pilkerton has shown no willingness to reverse course on that.

And finally, Mr. Burke, nominated to lead Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes at Treasury. He would be responsible for closing anti-money laundering vulnerabilities and coordinating sanctions with foreign partners. But the Administration is rolling back efforts to counter illicit finance and has imposed an eight-month pause on even basic Russian sanctions. Mr. Burke couldn't even acknowledge that Russia started the war against Ukraine. How can he be counted on to coordinate our sanctions against Russia?

President Trump promised to lower costs 'on day one.' Instead, step by step, he is selling out our national security and our economic security. He's driving costs up for families while destroying America's credibility abroad.

At a time when Americans are struggling to afford essentials-and with the Administration stripping away affordable health care and raising premiums for tens of millions of Americans-it is irresponsible for Congress to advance these nominees.

I will be voting no on all four of them.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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