Treasury Deputy, Under, Asst Sec Nominations: Brooke, Browne, Kothari, McMaster

The committee will come to order. We meet today in executive session to consider favorably reporting the nominations of the following individuals. Francis Bruch to be Deputy Secretary of Treasury, Aaron Brown to be Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, Doctor S. P. Kothari to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, and Hunter McMaster to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Market. I generally give an opening statement at this point and then turn it over to Senator Wyden. And then since no other senators are present, we would then uh recess and come to the floor at the eleven thirty vote and vote off the floor, if that's alright with Senator Wyden.

Yes, that would be fine.

I'm going to waive my opening statement because I've got an urgent meeting up in the banking committee to go to. And I will turn to Senator Wyden.

Mister Chairman, I I don't wanna uh hold you up, um what um what would be useful to you? Do you want me to do this now or put it in the congressional

yeah go ahead and take a couple minutes

ok today this finance committee is gonna vote on four nominees who would serve at the epicenter of self-dealing the treasury department i said last week that it was up to these four nominees to show the committee they had the independence and judgment to reign in trump's economic chaos that they would not be enablers of the president's unbridled self-dealing not a single one of them passed the test oh mister told my staff that he was unaware of any analysis by the treasury department before the trump administration launched the war in iran last week's hearing he was unable to show that he has a plan to rein in the economic consequences of trump's pointless and illegal war in iran as americans still struggle to afford filling up their gas tanks now that we're talking about a lack of preparation that brings me to mr. brook he's a well documented trump loyalist he's been in the treasury building for over a year and has been serving as acting deputy secretary since april who's the number two person at the treasury department when the trump administration uh granted to donald trump a settlement for one point seven billion dollars uh in a slush fund and actual immunity from tax audits anyone nominated to serve as the second in command at the treasury department ought to be able to give congress and the american people a straight answer about their involvement in one of the most obscene acts of corrupt self-dealing by a president in our country's history mr. brook did erin brown has been nominated to serve as the treasury department's top financial diplomat co coordinating with international partners on key trade and financial matters uh donald trump's made a lot of promises when it comes to trade and hasn't lived up to one of them instead he slapped tariffs on america's trading partner at random taking global markets and making it harder for our country's business to compete this chairman um i'm looking at a reuters story talking about uh the prospect of in a couple of years uh generic drugs uh would face um two hundred percent uh us tariffs. I would ask unanimous consent that we could put that in the record.

Without objection.

So the reality, and I'll close with this, Mr. Chairman. Again, the Trump administration refuses to uh pick up accurately on the economic pain that's being inflicted on American businesses, because of all these tariffs. Their tariffs are out of control. Ms. Brown failed to show this committee that she's prepared to take on the role of rebuilding our economic and trading partners for partnerships from the ground up. Clearly what we need to do is have a trade toolbox. Mr. Chairman, you and I have talked about this in the past, tariffs would be a part of the toolbox, but not the only thing. So I would ask unanimous consent then, Mr. Chairman, to put the rest of my statement in the record.

Without objection.

OK.

Alright, well thank you, Senator Wyden, for accommodating me. I, as I indicated, I gotta get back upstairs for a the banking committee votes and um unless another senator wishes to speak, which obviously they are not here to do, we will now, without objection, recess and reconvene to vote on the nominations off the floor of the senate. The members will be notified at the time and actually it will be at eleven thirty today for the eleven thirty vote.

Yes.

Without objection, that is so ordered, and the committee stands in recess.