[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 73 (Tuesday, May 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NOMINATION OF JOSHUA FROST

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote on the 
nomination of Joshua Frost to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 
for Financial Markets. While by most accounts Mr. Frost is qualified 
for this position, I will vote against his nomination out of growing 
concerns that the Treasury Department has been derelict in its 
responsibilities to the Senate Finance Committee and its members.
  The most recent example of Treasury thumbing its nose at the 
committee is the unprecedented delay of Secretary Yellen in agreeing to 
testify before the committee on the President's budget. Typically, the 
Treasury Secretary agrees to testify before the Finance Committee the 
week that the President releases his budget. Since 2005, the only other 
time a Treasury Secretary testified before the committee more than 3 
days after the release of the President's budget was Secretary Geithner 
in 2009, and he appeared just 6 days after the President released his 
budget.
  This year, 37 days have passed since the President unveiled his 
budget, and Secretary Yellen has yet to agree on a date to come before 
the committee. Finance Committee members have been informed that the 
earliest Secretary Yellen will appear before the committee is sometime 
in June, more than 2 months after the release of the President's 
budget. The reason given for this unprecedented delay is that Secretary 
Yellen is too busy to fit the Finance Committee into her schedule. This 
excuse rings hollow when just last week she was able to find time in 
her busy schedule to give the keynote address at an event held at the 
liberal Brookings Institution.
  So Secretary Yellen has time in her busy schedule to address the D.C. 
liberal intelligentsia at the Brookings Institution, but can't find 
time to answer the questions of elected Members of Congress and their 
constituents? This is unacceptable, and the Treasury Department must be 
held to account for shirking its responsibilities. In light of this, I 
intend to vote against the nomination of Mr. Frost to be an Assistant 
Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets.


                        Vote on Frost Nomination

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all postcloture time 
is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Frost 
nomination?
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Bennet), 
and the Senator from New Hampshire (Mrs. Shaheen) are necessarily 
absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Alabama (Mr. Shelby) and the Senator from Alabama (Mr. 
Tuberville).
  The result was announced--yeas 54, nays 42, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 144 Ex.]

                                YEAS--54

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Capito
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Collins
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Hagerty
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Kelly
     King
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Lujan
     Manchin
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Rosen
     Rounds
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--42

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Cassidy
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Moran
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Romney
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Bennet
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Tuberville
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). Under the previous order, the 
motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table, and 
the President will be immediately notified of the Senate's actions.

                          ____________________