[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7020-S7021]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NOMINATION OF JUDY SHELTON

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on Judy Shelton, today the Senate will 
vote on the nomination of Judy Shelton to serve as a member of the 
Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve.
  Ms. Shelton is, without a doubt, one of the most unqualified nominees 
I have ever seen for our Nation's central bank. When her nomination 
first came before the Senate Banking Committee, a former Republican 
aide to a Senator on the Banking Committee said that she was so 
unqualified and so far out of the mainstream that the ``idea of even 
calling Ms. Shelton as a witness for something was beyond the pale.''
  That is a former Republican aide saying that Shelton wasn't qualified 
to be a witness in a committee hearing, let alone a nominee to the 
Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
  It is not hard to understand why. For years, Ms. Shelton has 
advocated for the resurrection of the gold standard, a long since 
discarded policy that in part led to the Great Depression. She has 
questioned the independence of the Fed and, beyond that, has even 
questioned whether the Fed should exist.
  Ms. Shelton has also suggested that we put an end to Federal deposit 
insurance, an institution that has protected American savings since the 
1930s. That is why over 130 of the nation's top economists, including 
seven Nobel laureates, have opposed her nomination, as have countless 
alumni of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
  Ms. Shelton's views have another strange quality: They seem to change 
when it is politically convenient. When President Obama was in office, 
Ms. Shelton harangued the Fed to increase interest rates, despite the 
economic downturn. But in 2017, when President Trump took office, Ms. 
Shelton abruptly switched her position and argued that the Fed should 
reduce rates, in her words, ``as fast, as efficiently, as expeditiously 
as possible.''
  It may surprise few to learn that she was an adviser to President 
Trump's 2016 campaign. She has defended his candidacy and his policies 
and encouraged world banks to hold international conferences at Mar-a-
Lago. Imagine--a nominee for the Federal Reserve, which is supposed to 
be an independent body.

[[Page S7021]]

  I have fought both Democrats and Republicans when they have tried to 
interfere with the independence of the Fed, but Ms. Shelton doesn't 
seem to care about it at all. So that might be the most concerning 
thing about her nomination: her stunning lack of independence.
  The Federal Reserve Board must make decisions based on objective 
economic analysis and judgment, not whatever is best for one party or 
one occupant of the Oval Office. That is why terms on the Federal 
Reserve board last 14 years. We are supposed to trust Federal Reserve 
Governors to be neutral arbiters, no matter which party is in power in 
Washington. We are supposed to trust that everyone who serves on the 
Fed is first and foremost well qualified and truly independent.
  But, unfortunately, Judy Shelton is neither. Ms. Shelton has shown 
herself to be an economic weathervane, pointing whichever direction she 
thinks the partisan winds are blowing.
  Every single Democrat will oppose her nomination today. I understand 
a few of our Republican colleagues will oppose her nomination as well. 
The question is, Will enough of our colleagues on the other side stand 
up and do the right thing today?
  Members of this Chamber have stood up before to prevent President 
Trump from putting unqualified partisan advocates on the Federal 
Reserve. During these final few weeks of the Trump Presidency, it is 
time to do it again. I plead with my Republican colleagues, for the 
sake of an economy that is hurting from COVID, for the sake of our 
future economy and its growth, to reject Ms. Shelton's nomination.

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