Ahead of committee vote, Wyden opposes Treasury and USTR nominees
As Prepared for Delivery
Before we begin I’d like to say a few words about the nominees that will be voted on later today.
I’ll start with Brian Morrissey, who is nominated to serve as the Treasury Department’s top lawyer. He’s a qualified nominee with experience inside the federal government and the private sector.
But Mr. Morrissey’s credentials really aren’t the issue.
The real question is, how does somebody approach the role of being in-house counsel for an administration that has turned violating the law into an Olympic sport?
Donald Trump has kneecapped the Treasury Department’s ability to go after white collar criminals and tax cheats. He’s weaponizing the IRS to crack down on free speech and stomp on taxpayer privacy laws.
And now that Republicans have rammed their big, dangerous budget bill into law, the Treasury Department will oversee the implementation of massive tax cuts for corporations and Trump’s biggest and wealthiest donors.
Now to Joseph Barloon, who is nominated to serve as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative to the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
Donald Trump has charged ahead with poisonous tariffs and erratic trade threats that have raised prices for families and wrecked supply chains for American businesses. A better strategy would be fixing the trade system to make sure U.S. workers, farmers and companies get a fair shake. That includes fixing the World Trade Organization.
Mr. Barloon has failed to give us any reassurance that he – or the administration – have a plan to move past platitudes and threats and actually get something done.
Additionally, Mr. Barloon failed to provide me or my staff with forthcoming answers about his work for foreign entities, which raises serious questions.
I’ll wrap up with this. Donald Trump has carefully hand-selected a roster of nominees to be willing participants as he runs roughshod over the Constitution and Americans’ fundamental rights, and enriches his friends and donors.
If Mr. Morrissey and Mr. Barloon are confirmed, they’ll be tasked with oversight over and execution of Trump’s reckless policies and actions that are putting the American people at risk.
I’ve seen no indication from either nominee that they would check some of Donald Trump’s worst impulses. I urge my colleagues to vote no on their nominations.
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