'Your integrity and … your commitment to the American people are going to help restore confidence at the Fed'

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, attended the nomination hearing of President Trump's nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh. She highlighted Mr. Warsh's experience and raised the need for greater transparency of the Federal Reserve's recent building renovations.

Senator Britt began by underscoring the importance of the American people having trust in the Federal Reserve, saying, "I want to emphasize that transparency and accountability at the Fed are absolutely vital. The American people need to have trust in our government. We need to have trust in our government agencies, and that includes transparency and accountability at the Fed. So, when we're talking about billions of dollars being spent on renovations, it's absolutely appropriate for Congress to ask questions, and it is absolutely appropriate for Congress to get answers. We need to understand where this substantial amount of money has gone, and we need to ensure that every institution, including the Fed, is always making decisions that are in the best interest of the American people."

The Senator asked Warsh about how his previous experience at the Federal Reserve will help instruct his tenure at the head of the U.S. central bank: "I had a chance to get to know you over the years, and as many of my Republican colleagues have and other colleagues, and I think we would all say, you are absolutely the right man for the job at the right time in our country's history and I am excited about your leadership at the Fed. We have had an opportunity to talk about a number of issues, but I know that your integrity and that your commitment to the American people are going to help restore confidence at the Fed and it will also ultimately serve our country incredibly well. So, it's not going to be any easy task to return that confidence.

"We've spoken about needed reforms at the Fed, on the monetary policy side and also the operational and internal standpoint as well, and of course your calls for reform aren't baseless. You served at the Fed during one of the most challenging times … I believe you said there was a balance sheet (of) $800 billion when you showed up in 2006. So talk to me a little … about what you have seen during your time and tenure at the Fed already, and then what other life experiences you have that you will bring as you tackle this role?"

Warsh responded, highlighting his vision for improvements at the Fed: "This is a time of consequence, not just for the country, but for the central bank. I think the central bank can go back to first principles and improve itself. I see most of the actions of the Fed come from good intentions, but when you gave the Fed a remit, it wasn't a general roving remit to do what it thought was right-it was a particular remit to focus on particular issues and to not wander. And that's the trade off on independence. Independence about the conduct of monetary policy, where we can hear criticisms from others in economics profession, elected officials, and we should be open minded to them. Listen, I think there's been a considerable amount of groupthink in the economics profession, and so being open minded to it is important. But outside of monetary policy, it's important that the central bank work with the government on areas of overlap. And so, I think that's likely to happen going forward."

You can watch the Senator's full remarks here.

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