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Senate expected to begin cabinet confirmations soon following Biden inauguration
Senate committees this week held confirmation hearings on several of President Joe Biden's nominations for cabinet positions. Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Tuesday testified before the Senate Finance Committee for her nomination as Treasury Secretary, during which she outlined her vision for supporting economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn into office yesterday.
"It is a historic day for our nation and democracy, and NAFCU welcomes President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as they are sworn into office," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "NAFCU looks forward to working with the Biden Administration and Congress to help bring our nation closer together, respond to the pandemic, and promote a brighter future for all Americans. To accomplish this, we remain committed to advocating for meaningful policies that help credit unions serve their 123 million members."
Harris resigned her Senate seat earlier in the week, and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has been appointed to fill the seat. Padilla and Georgia's senators who won runoff elections earlier this month – Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock – were also sworn in yesterday, culminating in Democrat's control of the Senate with Harris as the tie breaking vote.
Yellen – and some other cabinet officials – could be confirmed yet this week; Yellen is expected to be confirmed with bipartisan support. During her hearing Tuesday, Yellen said the Treasury will have a dual mission: "helping Americans endure the final months of this pandemic; keeping people safe while getting them back to work."
"That's our first task," she said in her opening statement. "But then there is the longer-term project. We have to rebuild our economy so that it creates more prosperity for more people and ensures that American workers can compete in an increasingly global economy."
As she called for Congress and the administration to "act big" on future relief packages, she highlighted the need for increased aid to support vaccine distribution, front-line and essential workers, unemployed Americans, and families. She also said the paycheck protection program (PPP) has been critical in supporting small businesses, and she will work with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to effectively fund and disburse loans for the program.
Members of the Senate Finance Committee focused their questions on the federal deficit, which Yellen acknowledged is a concern but stressed the impact of the pandemic would cause more economic damage if additional relief is not provided, and her plans for taxes.
Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, asked Yellen about the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) efforts to implement reforms at the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to remove them from conservatorship. Yellen said she would review what has been put in place and that she is committed to developing strong principles for the GSEs. NAFCU has called on Congress to codify certain protections before the GSEs are removed from conservatorship.
In addition, Brown outlined some of his priorities as he is set to chair the Senate Banking Committee, including related to Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering reforms and expanding access to financial services. He discussed a plan to provide every American free access to a checking account at a community bank, credit union, or post office. Establishing postal banking was a recommendation from a taskforce setup by Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., last year, and the House-passed fiscal year 2021 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill included a provision to create a pilot program.
NAFCU has opposed efforts to establish a postal banking program and has instead called for allowing all credit unions to expand their fields of membership to include underserved areas as credit unions are well equipped to meet the objectives of this proposal.
Stay tuned to NAFCU Today for the latest updates out of Washington that could impact credit unions.