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Exclusive with Rep. Andy Barr on FDIC’s failures, reforms to America’s financial system – 06/13/24 Edition

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  • June 13, 2024
In this edition
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    1. Exclusive: Rep. Andy Barr blasts FDIC’s ‘failed leader,’ outlines plans to reform America’s financial system

    By Matthew Foldi

    Bipartisan lawmakers have criticized the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) chairman for months, following an independent investigation that found widespread “sexual harassment, discrimination, and other interpersonal misconduct” under his leadership.

    Longtime FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg is “a total disgrace, a failed leader, [and] a liberal political hack who has no business running any organization, let alone the premiere banking organization in America,” Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) said of Gruenberg.

    Gruenberg skipped a hearing this week, and promised to resign only after his successor is confirmed, which Barr said is unacceptable. Barr explained to the Reporter his hope to reform the financial system and “reimagine the FDIC,” which shouldn’t “be the primary regulator of a lot of financial systems.”Barr added that “we should be ready, willing, and able to use the Congressional Review Act on any number of misguided regulatory proposals from the administration and financial regulation and otherwise.”

    Read the full story about Rep. Andy Barr’s FDIC criticisms and plans to reform the financial system — including potential improper actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau HERE.

    Array

    What’s the latest with the FDIC? Marty Gruenberg is not leaving. What else is coming down the pipeline for you?

    Matthew-Foldi

    Matthew Foldi

    Editor-in-Chief

    Marty Gruenberg is a disgrace. He’s a total disgrace. He’s a failed leader. He’s a liberal political hack who has no business running any organization, let alone the premier banking regulator in America. And the mismanagement and the poor leadership that he’s demonstrated in his most recent tenure is grounds for immediate removal in that position and the fact that he has pledged to “resign” until a replacement is found is woefully inadequate. He needs to go yesterday. If any regulated depository institution had the toxic workplace culture that he has presided over at the FDIC, the FDIC would have crucified the management and leadership of that bank. The hypocrisy from Washington is something that Americans hate. And Marty Gruenberg is the poster child of Washington arrogance, mismanagement and bureaucratic hypocrisy.

    barr.house

    Rep. Andy Barr

    Chair, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy

    Tell me how you really feel about this guy.

    Matthew-Foldi

    Matthew Foldi

    Editor-in-Chief

    That’s how I feel about it. And I think it’s a disgrace that these Biden bureaucrats hold the private sector to one standard, but they hold themselves to another standard. It’s a double standard that Americans should not and do not tolerate. That’s why he should resign. He should have resigned several months ago, when the independent report was released.

    barr.house

    Rep. Andy Barr

    Chair, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy

    Is it reasonable for congressional Republicans, now or after the election, to use the Congressional Review Act to remedy the FDIC’s waywardness?

    Matthew-Foldi

    Matthew Foldi

    Editor-in-Chief

    Of course we should be ready, willing, and able to use the Congressional Review Act on any number of misguided regulatory proposals from the administration and financial regulation and otherwise. What I would add to that is that those resolutions disapproving misguided and costly and bureaucratic rules and regulations from the Biden administration can work in tandem with litigation. In light of the West Virginia vs. EPA case, and perhaps the Supreme Court’s decision that if it does overturn Chevron will also help us invalidate any of these costly regulations.

    barr.house

    Rep. Andy Barr

    Chair, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy

    2. Heard on the Hill

    What we’re hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill – please send us more tips!

    • Microsoft loss: We are hearing that Microsoft–the largest company by market cap–is a surprise loser of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s decision to delay markup of a sweeping privacy bill. Microsoft had worked behind the scenes to secure favorable carve outs and shape the legislation, as the tech-giant has ramped up its donations and advocacy in recent months.
    • Queenmaker: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) rolled out her first round of E-PAC-endorsed candidates this week, whose races she detailed in an exclusive Reporter profile last week.
    • Dollar bills: On Monday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) held a fundraiser, which raised over seven figures, in New York hosted by GOP mega donors John Castle and John Catsimatidis. In attendance: Sens. John Thune (R., S.D.), John Cornyn (R., Texas), NRSC Chair Steve Daines (R., Mont.), Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, and Larry Kudlow.
    • Security scoop: Polaris National Security PAC, a national security organization led by former top Trump staffer Morgan Ortagus, shared its first endorsements of the cycle exclusively with the Reporter: Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown and House candidates Joe Teirab in Minnesota, Rob Mercuri in Pennsylvania, Alison Esposito in New York, Troy Downing in Montana, Yvette Herrell in New Mexico, Joe McGraw in Illinois, and Prasanth Reddy in Kansas.
    • Fauci fallout: Pro-American energy group Power The Future exclusively previewed an ad to the Reporter, in which the group reminds Americans that many activists use COVID measures as a blueprint for climate extremism: “Americans remembering Dr. Fauci’s failures during Covid should be very worried about his views on climate since he and his supporters are addicted to emergency declarations to inflict control on our lives,” the group’s founder, Daniel Turner, told the Reporter.
    • Manhattan in D.C.: The Manhattan Institute hosted an economic conference at the Conrad Hotel focused on the future of free-market enterprise and a new supply-side agenda for revitalizing American dynamism. House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.) and Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent keynoted, and MI scholars Judge Glock, Stephen Miran, Brian Riedl, and Allison Schrager highlighted their work in panels. Liam Donovan and Patrick Ruffini were also featured speakers.
    • Back again: Former President Donald J. Trump met with House Republicans this morning at Capitol Hill Club, he will be meeting with Senate Republicans later this afternoon.

    Array

    3. Senate Judiciary Committee slams Administration over illegal Chinese vapes

    By Matthew Foldi

    The illegal, unregulated, and dangerous influx of vaping devices from China sparked Senate bipartisanship this week, when the Senate Judiciary Committee hammered the task-force Joe Biden appointed to tackle the issue.

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorizes the sale of 23 vaping devices. The Associated Press reports, however, that there are almost 10,000 different vapes sold across America –— many of which target children. According to the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in President Barack Obama’s administration, “the use of disposable vapes by U.S. high school aged children has risen an incredible 1,336% since 2019. Most of these products, about 90%, come from China.” According to the FDA, the two most popular vapes in America, Elf Bar and Esco Bar, are both made in China.

    Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) highlighted Joe Biden’s administration’s regulatory failures, which have allowed for a Chinese-controlled vaping device black market, in Wednesday’s Judiciary hearings.

    “You’ve completely fallen down on the job,” Durbin told officials from the FDA and from the Department of Justice (DOJ). “What in the hell have you been waiting for?”

    For more on how Biden’s vape task force is going up in smoke, click HERE.

    Array

    4. Exclusive: Polling memo shows Republicans expanding House map in Indiana

    By Matthew Foldi

    The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) exclusively shared a polling memo with the Washington Reporter that earmarks for attention a district in Northeast Indiana, which Biden carried by 7 percent in 2020.

    Rep. Frank Mrvan (D., Ind.) in Indiana’s 1st congressional district looked poised for re-election, but a combination of President Joe Biden’s approval rating (56 percent of respondents disapprove of his job performance, compared to only 42 percent who approve in Mrvan’s district) and strong House Republican candidate recruitment have made Mrvan’s shot weaker.

    The poll, conducted earlier this year, found Mrvan leading Republican candidate Randy Niemeyer by 45 percent to 41 percent, within the poll’s margin of error. Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), Senate candidate in Indiana, told the Reporter that “IN01 will be a top five House race to watch in November.” The NRCC’s poll also showed Banks with a plus-four image rating in this district.

    “We have a great candidate in Randy Niemeyer and northwest Indiana is trending Republican as working class voters see more than ever that the elitist Democrat Party doesn’t represent them anymore,” Banks said.

    Read the full memo HERE.

    Array

    5. Op-ed: Biden’s antitrust cops are playing politics at taxpayer expense

    By Tom Hebert

    On paper, President Joe Biden’s antitrust enforcers couldn’t look more different. One is a progressive activist, the other is a multimillionaire corporate attorney.

    While their public brands may differ, their end goals remain the same: providing political cover for Biden on the campaign trail. Republican lawmakers should continue to expose how Biden’s politicized antitrust agenda wastes taxpayer resources and harms taxpayers.

    Read more from Tom Hebert, the executive director of the Open Competition Center, on Biden’s political antitrust enforcers HERE.

    Array

    6. What we’re reading

    • The Spectator: Inmates are running the newsroom asylums, by Stephen Miller
    • Washington Free Beacon: Iran’s Ties to the ‘Palestine Chronicle,’ by Adam Kredo
    • Politico: Conservative watchdog accuses Alsobrooks of campaign finance violations, by Daniel Lippman
    • Daily Wire: A Leftist Billionaire Vowed To ‘Reimagine Capitalism.’ Then He Colonized A Federal Agency, by Luke Rosiak
    • Bloomberg Tax: IRS Is Ignoring Red Flags in Its Love Affair With Direct File, by Bob Kerr
    • City Journal: The Foundation of American Folly: The Ford Foundation has spent decades tearing the country apart, tax-free, by N. S. Lyons
    • Washington Examiner: Patagonia funneled thousands to Palestinian terrorism-linked group, documents show, by Gabe Kaminsky

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