ICYMI: Fox Business: Treasury Officials in 17 States Endorse Biden's Fed Nominees, Touting 'Unparalleled Expertise' and 'Diversity'

Fox Business reported Tuesday that comptrollers and treasurers – state and local officials in charge of budgets – from 17 states, penned a letter to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs urging the Senate to expeditiously confirm President Biden's Federal Reserve nominees Lisa Cook, Philip Jefferson, and Sarah Bloom Raskin.

The officials touted the Biden administration "bringing relief" to families across the country, but said the U.S. "must carefully navigate our way through the complicated economic impacts of the pandemic that continue to put a strain on many families' household budgets."

Citing their "unparalleled expertise and impressive experience," the officials write: "We believe that President Biden's nominees are more than ready for this task and would welcome the opportunity to work with them in this effort."

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FOX Business: Treasury officials in 17 states endorse Biden's Fed nominees, touting 'unparalleled expertise' and 'diversity'
[Brooke Singman, 2/1/2022]

Comptrollers and treasurers from New York, Nevada, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, California, Maryland and Missouri penned a letter to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, obtained exclusively by FOX Business, urging the Senate to "expeditiously confirm all three nominees."

President Biden, earlier this month, nominated Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Fed and Treasury official, to serve as Fed vice chair for supervision – the top regulatory position; Lisa Cook, who would be the first Black woman to serve on the Fed's board, and Phillip Jefferson, an economist, dean of faculty at Davidson College in North Carolina and a former Fed researcher.

The letter counters a group of mostly Republican states that spoke out against Raskin, calling her views "radical."

"We are writing today to express our support for the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as Vice Chair of Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system as well as the nominations of Dr. Lisa Cook and Dr. Philip Jefferson to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System," they wrote.

"As stewards of our city and state's budgets, we acknowledge and appreciate the vital importance of strong leadership at the Federal Reserve," the wrote, saying that the leadership "is more important than ever, as our country struggles to recover from the dual economic and public health crises brought on by the pandemic, exacerbating existing social and economic inequalities."

"We are writing today to express our support for the nomination of Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as Vice Chair of Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system as well as the nominations of Dr. Lisa Cook and Dr. Philip Jefferson to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System," they wrote.

"As stewards of our city and state's budgets, we acknowledge and appreciate the vital importance of strong leadership at the Federal Reserve," the wrote, saying that the leadership "is more important than ever, as our country struggles to recover from the dual economic and public health crises brought on by the pandemic, exacerbating existing social and economic inequalities."

The officials touted the Biden administration for "bringing relief" to families across the country, but said the U.S. "must carefully navigate our way through the complicated economic impacts of the pandemic that continue to put a strain on many families' household budgets."

"We believe that President Biden's nominees are more than ready for this task and would welcome the opportunity to work with them in this effort," they wrote.

The officials also warned of the "looming threats" of climate change, cybersecurity and "other potentially risky phenomena," saying the issues "require diligence and forward-thinking leadership."

"We endorse President Biden's nominees not only for their unparalleled expertise and impressive experience, but also for the diversity they would bring to the Federal Reserve," they wrote, adding that it is "critical" that those directing the country's financial infrastructure "represent and reflect the diversity of the American experience."

"Improved diversity at the Federal Reserve will ensure stronger and more equitable policies that will in turn, improve the overall health of our economy," they wrote.

FOX Business also obtained a letter from the National Bankers Association endorsing Cook to serve as the first Black woman, and Jefferson, to serve as the fourth Black man on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

"If confirmed, the NBA looks forward to working with the entire Board on efforts to enhance the agency's work to preserve and promote minority depository institutions," president and CEO of the National Bankers Association Nicole Elam wrote.

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