July 16,2026

Wyden Statement at Hearing on Trump Treasury Nominees

As Prepared for Delivery

The Finance Committee returns this morning to consider a slew of unqualified Trump nominees.

All four of today’s nominees have been chosen to serve at the Treasury Department. The epicenter of Donald Trump’s corruption and self dealing for the last year and a half, with Scott Bessent at the helm.

First up is S.P. Kothari to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy.

Earlier this year, Mr. Kothari met with my staff on the Finance Committee, who pressed him on what steps the Treasury Department took to assess the potential economic fallout of Trump’s illegal war in Iran.

Stunningly, Mr. Kothari told my staff that he was unaware of any analysis by the Treasury Department before this idiotic war.

No preparation – no attempt to limit the economic impact of a war the American people didn’t want.

That became painfully clear when gas prices soared across the country to five – even six – dollars a gallon. Prices still remain high to this day, and families are still having to make tough choices about whether they want to buy groceries or gas for the week.

Anyone nominated to serve in this role ought to have a plan to rein in Trump’s agenda of economic anarchy. By Mr. Kothari’s own admission, his team at the Treasury Department failed to do the bare minimum to protect the American people, and I have no reason to believe he would serve this country differently if confirmed.

Next up is Francis Brooke, who is nominated to serve as the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury – the second highest ranking position at the department.

Mr. Brooke is a well-documented Trump loyalist. He has already held numerous influential positions within this administration, and is unscathed by practical and technical experience.

Mr. Brooke has been in the Treasury building for over a year and serving as Acting Deputy Secretary since April. He was the number two guy at the Treasury Department when Trump was granted his settlement for a 1.7 billion dollar slush fund, and immunity from tax audits.

I find it hard to believe that Mr. Brooke had no knowledge of how this stunning display of corrupt self-dealing came to be.

If confirmed, Mr. Brooke is sure to be a rubber-stamp for whatever latest corrupt scheme Trump and Bessent are plotting.

Next up, Erin Browne to serve as an Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs.

The person in this role has a big job ahead of them, basically serving as the Treasury Department’s top financial diplomat, coordinating with international partners on key trade and financial matters.

Last year, Trump made it his mission to embarrass our country on the international stage by slapping tariffs on most of the world, with no discernible goal or plan to help workers and families.

The person in this position must have the experience necessary to help rebuild our economic and trading partnerships from the ground up.

I am nothing short of skeptical that Ms. Browne has those qualifications.

Finally, Hunter McMaster to be an Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets. McMaster is a Bessent loyalist who previously worked as head of trading at his hedge fund, Key Square Group.

Between the war in Iran and Trump’s tariff chaos, the first year and a half of Trump’s presidency has plagued the global markets with uncertainty.

I’ll be listening closely to today’s testimony to determine if Mr. McMaster will show the independence and judgment needed to restore certainty and consistency to these markets amid Trump’s economic anarchy.

I’ll close with this. Donald Trump is not picking his nominees based on their qualifications or ability to best serve the American people. He’s picking them based on their willingness to enable and carry out his corruption and stonewalling at the expense of the American people. Nothing in the background of today’s nominees indicates that they will be anything but more of the same.

###