Catherine Cortez Masto Asks Treasury Nom: 'Will You Respect The Independence Of Bank Regulators?'

3/27/2025

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) questioned President Trump's nominee to be the Treasury Department's Comptroller of the Currency, Jonathan Gould, and the nominee to be Federal Transit Administrator, former Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY).

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00I'm happy to follow through in your train of thought there, Senator Kenney, because

00:04that was my question.

00:05Bipartisanship.

00:06Mr. Pettit, talk to me about these tariffs.

00:10You know, we have currently imposed tariffs on Canada.

00:15What's the short-term impact?

00:19Thank you, Senator.

00:20The impact of tariffs in the short run may increase the prices of the imported goods,

00:26but the objective of these tariffs in the long run is to help incentivize more manufacturing

00:30here in the United States.

00:32And if they impose more costs here for our companies, and companies pass that cost on

00:41to the consumers, which I have seen publicly they intend to do, is that higher costs for

00:46the American consumer, higher prices?

00:50In the short term, they could lead to higher prices on imported goods.

00:52So you would agree with Canada's billboards that are in Nevada and across the country

00:57now that say tariffs are a tax on your grocery bill in the short term?

01:02I'm not sure of the volume of imports of various produce and goods, but I would say that the

01:07intent of these tariffs is to help reshore.

01:10I know the intent.

01:11Let's talk about the short-term impacts.

01:12Would you agree, along with Canada, who has a billboard now in Nevada, tariffs are a tax

01:16on hardworking Americans?

01:18You just basically said that's the ultimate result.

01:22Would you agree?

01:23I believe the effect of tariffs is very different than a tax on Americans, but it could lead

01:27to higher prices on certain imported goods here in the United States.

01:30To Americans?

01:31Yes, ma'am.

01:32If the companies pass the cost on to the Americans?

01:35Yes.

01:36Okay.

01:38Let me ask you this.

01:39If you're confirmed as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, would you respect the independence

01:43of the bank regulators?

01:46Thank you for the question.

01:47If confirmed, I look forward to working with the regulators who do operate independently,

01:52Yes.

01:53And you would respect their independence?

01:54I will.

01:55Okay.

01:56So explain to me, if you can, because Secretary Besson has announced, and I think it was March

01:596th in a speech, he stated something to the effect of our financial regulators singing

02:05in unison from the same song sheet is what he is looking for.

02:10We need our financial regulators singing in unison from the same song sheet.

02:14To be clear, it does not mean consolidation of agencies, but coordination via Treasury,

02:20such that our regulators work in parallel with each other and the industry.

02:25What does that mean?

02:26Thank you, Senator.

02:27I believe, and not to speak on behalf of Secretary Besson, the intention of that statement was

02:32that we need to avoid the outcome of having regulators telling institutions different

02:36things so that institutions that are supervised by multiple federal regulators aren't torn

02:42between conflicting guidance.

02:43So regulators should work in conjunction and parallel with the Treasury Department?

02:48No, I think the objective here is to ensure that there is an uncertainty in terms of which

02:52rules to follow across different agencies.

02:55Okay.

02:56I'll be curious to see how this plays out.

03:00Mr. Molinero, thanks for meeting with me.

03:02I really appreciate the conversation that we had in my office.

03:06One of the things we talked about was transparency.

03:09And you called out your own Metropolitan Transit Agency on a lack of transparency and accountability.

03:15Can you promise that as an administrator, you will provide the public and Congress transparency

03:22in job firings and federal funding freezes that are currently being ordered by the Trump

03:27administration and those employed with Doge?

03:30Senator, I was nearly convinced none of you noticed I was here.

03:34Obviously, Senator, I don't know the current impacts.

03:40My expectation and my commitment is to uphold the highest standard of accountability and

03:45transparency and to work with your offices certainly to explain both impacts of previous

03:51and future decisions within the FDA.

03:55I appreciate that.

03:56Let me ask you this.

03:57Congress previously worked deliberately in a bipartisan way to pass the Infrastructure

04:02Investment and Jobs Act.

04:04And the bill authorized up to $108 billion for fiscal years 2022 and 2026 to support

04:10public transit.

04:12Will you commit to dispersing all of the already approved funding and the remaining

04:17funding consistent with how it was authorized by Congress?

04:20Senator, and again, I do appreciate the time we spent together.

04:23I don't know the status of awarded and contracted grants.

04:28I did read, I think yesterday morning, that there is now some advancement and release

04:33of those dollars.

04:34As you know, and I said to you, and I'll privately will say publicly, the president and the secretary

04:38have asked me to advocate on behalf of transit systems across this country and the riding

04:42public.

04:43And so my expectation is to advocate for the disbursement of contracted and obligated awards.

04:50And then finally, let me just ask you this.

04:51We talked a little bit about this rural communities and the challenges that we see for transportation

04:57in rural communities.

04:58I know your house district covered vast counties in upstate New York, where my husband and

05:03his family are from, and you're familiar with the lack of transit access.

05:08Can you talk a little bit about not only the challenges you saw, but how you addressed

05:11it and what you intend to do?

05:13In 10 seconds, I will tell you, I value working with supporting rural and regional transit

05:20systems.

05:21Think of hubs and spokes, urban and village and city centers being the hub, those regional

05:26rural districts, rural transit systems being the spokes.

05:30It's important we connect them to move Americans and to grow the American economy.

05:34Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

05:35Yes, ma'am.

Catherine Cortez Masto Asks Treasury Nom: 'Will You Respect The Independence Of Bank Regulators?'

Category

Transcript

Recommended