The top bank regulators post nominee, Saule Omarova, withdrew her name after a fiery confirmation hearing in which GOP lawmakers suggested she had Communist ties, withdrew her name from consideration on Tuesday.
Biden said in a statement that I have accepted Saule Omarova's request to withdraw her name from the nomination for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Saule would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our work on behalf of the American people, as a strong advocate for consumers and a staunch defender of the safety and soundness of our financial system, he said. Saule was subject to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale, even though she was nominated from the very beginning of her nomination.
Omarova, a Cornell University law professor, was grilled by Senator John Kennedy, R-La during her confirmation hearing last month. Her education, her membership in a youth Communist club and her upbringing in the former Soviet Union are all about her education.
Kennedy said to Omarova during the hearing that they don't know whether to call them professor or comrade.
Omarova said I'm not a Communist. I could not choose where I was born. After the hearing, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote: Saule Omarova supports abolishing private bank accounts, using the govt to bankrupt energy companies, creating a Soviet-style National Investment Authority. He said that she supports communist policies, but he said that a communist should not be our Comptroller of the Currency.
Omarova, 55, escaped Kazakhstan and immigrated to the United States in 1991. After working for several years at a law firm, she went on to serve as a financial regulation adviser at the Treasury Department during the George W. Bush administration.
Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that powerful interests distorted Professor Omarova's views and writings despite her unquestioned expertise and bipartisan record. They shamefully attacked her family, her heritage, and her commitment to American ideals in a relentless smear campaign reminiscent of red scare McCarthyism. I am disappointed that these spurious attacks and misrepresentations of Professor Omarova's views were not resoundingly rejected in a bipartisan manner. Omarova did not mention her confirmation hearing in her brief letter withdrawing from consideration.
She said that she deeply value President Biden's trust in his abilities and remain firmly committed to the Administration's vision of a prosperous, inclusive, and just future for our country. It is no longer tenable to continue as a Presidential nominee at this point in the process. Omarova appeared to have no support from Democrats, sinking her nomination due to the level of GOP opposition.
Omarova would have been the first woman, the first person of color and the first immigrant to serve as comptroller of the currency, if confirmed. The agency was created in 1863 to oversee and regulate the nation's banks.
In Tuesday's statement, Biden said that he will continue to work to find a nominee for this position, and he plans to make an announcement at a later date.