September is always a busy month on Capitol Hill as lawmakers come back to DC following the August recess. Lawmakers continued to work through nominations and must pass an appropriations bill to prevent a shut down at the end of the month.
Senate Confirms Trump’s Dangerous Federal Reserve Nominee
On September 4th, Senate Banking Committee passed Stephen Miran out of Committee on a party line vote. The following Monday, the full Senate confirmed his nomination, again on a party line vote. This sped up process allowed Miran to participate in the Fed meeting that week as well. During his confirmation hearing and before the floor vote, Senate Democrats brought up a number of issues with the nominee, one of the biggest being his conflict of interest in remaining in his role as the President’s Chief Economic Advisor, and his record of standing up for the President’s priorities over the interests of the American people. Read Better Markets’ statement shortly before he was confirmed here.
Lawmakers Respond to the Illegal Firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook
When lawmakers returned from August recess, they were faced with President Trump’s attempt to illegally fire Dr. Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in order to put more of his political allies on the board. This blatant attack on Fed independence received a strong response from Capitol Hill, as the Ranking Members of both House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committee called on the courts to uphold Fed independence. Ranking Member Maxine Waters’ statement is here, and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren’s statement is here.
Additionally, Ranking Member Maxine Waters held a roundtable with Committee Democrats on the importance of Fed independence with former Fed Vice Chair and Director of the National Economic Council, Dr Lael Brainard. During the roundtable they discussed the importance of the Fed in long-term economic planning, not short-term political gain.
House Holds Hearing on Banking Resolution Planning
On September 9th, House Financial Services: Financial Institutions Subcommittee held a hearing entitled “Promoting the Health of the Banking Sector: Reforming Resolution and Broadening Funding Access for Long-Term Resilience.” During the hearing, Robert James from Carver Financial Corporation highlighted how community banks help local economies by providing lending that supports the real economy, not Wall Street bonuses. Congressman Stephen Lynch discussed how the bank resolution process favors large banks and not community banks, and cited Better Markets’ report on a year after the First Republic acquisition by JP Morgan Chase. You can read the full report, and see why we need a bank resolution process that does not lead to large banks getting larger, here.
House Holds Hearing on Proxy Advisors
On September 10th, House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled “Proxy Power and Proposal Abuse: Reforming Rule 14a-8 to Protect Shareholder Value.” During the hearing, Ranking Member Waters noted the importance of shareholders and their voices in corporate governance. Brad Lander, the Comptroller of New York City, noted how they use shareholder rights to protect the retirements of the City’s workers, including teachers, firefighters, and police. He noted how shareholder rights led to changes in executive clawback policies to better protect retirees from being harmed like they were during the 2008 crash. Better Markets agrees and have long been an advocate for shareholder rights. Be sure to read our latest fact sheet on this important issue here.
