Politics

President Biden withdraws banking nominee Saulee Omarova after GOP pushback

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President Joe Biden’s choice for a key role policing the nation’s banks withdrew her nomination Tuesday after facing pushback from several Republicans and moderate Democrats.

“I deeply value President Biden’s trust in my abilities and remain firmly committed to the Administration’s vision of a prosperous, inclusive, and just future for our country,” she said in her letter withdrawing her name. “At this point in the process, however, it is no longer tenable for me to continue as a Presidential nominee.”

Saule Omarova was born in Kazakhstan and came to the United States after the USSR communist government collapsed to earn a PhD from the University of Wisconsin.

Joe Biden was complimentary when talking about Omarova’s background and abilities. “I nominated Saule because of her deep expertise in financial regulation and her long-standing, respected career in the private sector, the public sector, and as a leading academic in the field,” he said.

“She has lived the American dream, escaping her birthplace in the former Soviet Union and immigrating to America, where she went on to serve in the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush and now works as a professor at Cornell Law School,” he added.

Several lawmakers raised the issue of Omarova’s academic papers during her confirmation hearing. “My concern with Professor Omarova is her long history of promoting ideas that she herself describes as ‘radical,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said of the Cornell University law professor ​​during the hearing. “I agree that they are radical. But I’d also describe them as socialist.”

“I don’t know whether to call you professor or comrade,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said at one point during the hearing.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said he could not “think of a nominee more poorly suited to be the comptroller of the currency based solely on [her] public positions, statements and the weight of [her] writings than [Omarova.]” 

Biden lambasted the GOP lawmakers for targeting her upbringing among their reasoning for pushing back on the nominee, arguing she “was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks” in his announcement stating he had accepted her request to remove herself from the process. 

ARTICLE: PAUL MURDOCH

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: POLITICO

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Paul Murdoch

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

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