What Health Crisis? McConnell Senate Tees Up Lame Duck Confirmation of Trump’s Extremist Fed Board Pick

WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than 11 million Americans remain out of work. The pandemic that has already cost over 240,000 U.S. lives is raging across the country. Yet the McConnell-led Senate is choosing to use precious time in the lame duck session to consider outgoing President Trump’s extreme nominee for the Federal Reserve Board, Judy Shelton. Despite a number of Republican senators previously voicing concern over Shelton’s fringe views like returning to the outdated gold standard — an idea roundly panned by respected economists — Shelton is now on an all be certain path to overseeing the nation’s monetary policy during a deep recession.  

The McConnell Senate is poised to rubberstamp Shelton’s nomination despite her outrageous suggestion to hold an international summit on monetary policy at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort, a taxpayer-costing arrangement that could have violated the Emoluments Clause. Shelton also once exclaimed that she is “tired of the criticism… even among Republicans” that “Wall Street greed, or predatory lending” led to the 2008 financial crisis. Shelton even advocated ending federal deposit insurance, which would put American’s hard-earned money at risk to bank failures.  

“Gold-standard obsessed Judy Shelton actually believes Wall Street and predatory lenders were blameless for the financial crisis that gave us the Great Recession. Hers would not be a reasonable voice advising the Fed Chair during the current recession, yet the McConnell-led Senate has decided to treat this reckless nomination like a consolation prize for the fired president,” said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for Accountable.US. “The same Senator McConnell who once demanded to “give the people a voice” now wants to jam through a controversial nominee of a one-term president during the lame duck. The Senate should leave all nominations for the next president and start focusing on the heath and economic crises they have ignored for months.”  

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  

• In November 2009, Just A Month After Unemployment Peaked As A Result Of The Financial Crisis, Judy Shelton Argued, “I Am So Tired Of The Criticism […] Of Wall Street Greed, Or Predatory Lending” And Claimed, “We Over-Tax People, We Over-Burden With Regulatory Requirements.” 
 
   
• Milton Friedman, A Nobel-Winning Economist Who Himself Held Once-Fringe Views, Said Of Shelton’s Work: “‘It Would Be Hard To Pack More Error Into So Few Words.’” 
 
   
• Shelton Has Likened The Federal Reserve’s Power To Soviet Planning, Saying, “‘We Might As Well Resurrect Gosplan.’” 
   
• Shelton Wrote That The U.S. Government Should Sell-Off Its “Numerous Federal Land Holdings,” Including Public Lands, In Order To “Expedite The Achievement Of A Balanced Budget.” At Her Nomination Hearing, She Was Lambasted For Her Views On Selling Public Lands And Public Assets. 
   
• Shelton Said Two Economists Who Saw The New Deal As On “The Same Spectrum As Nazism And Communism” Were “Two Such Respected Voices In Austrian Economics.” 
   
• Shelton Has Retweeted Condemnation Of The G-7’s “Social-Justice Bromides” And Praise For Margaret Thatcher Having “No Truck With Identity Politics.”
 
   
• Shelton On The Federal Reserve’s Legally-Required Responsibility To Maintain Full Employment: “‘I Don’t Know That That Is Really The Fed’s Job.’”
 
   
• Former Treasury Secretary And National Economic Council Director Lawrence H. Summers Has Called Shelton A “Dangerous” Appointment Who “Falls Well Below” Trump’s Other Failed Federal Reserve Picks. 
   
• Shelton Has “Ditched Lots Of Supposedly Deeply Held Beliefs To Pander To The President,” Even Reversing Her Positions On Key Federal Reserve Issues. 
   
• Shelton Has Suggested That Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Resort Should Host A Potentially Historic Monetary Policy Summit. 
   
• Shelton Has Suggested Privatizing The Postal Service—“The Most Popular Government Agency Of All”— And Risking “Immense Price Increases” And Possibly Even “Constitutional Issues.”    

###