At the Banking Committee of the US Senate on Thursday, November 18, Republicans criticized Saule Omarova, a candidate for the post of head of the Treasury Department of Foreign Exchange Control, whose candidacy was nominated by President of the United States Joe Biden. The meeting was broadcast by the C-Span channel.
During the hearings to consider the candidacy of 55-year-old Omarova, a native of Kazakhstani Uralsk and a graduate of Moscow State University, senators took turns asking the candidate various questions to make sure that the person fit the post for which he was nominated. The committee then votes on whether it recommends the full Senate to approve the candidacy. Then a final vote takes place in the upper house of Congress.
Republican legislators criticized both Omarova herself and some of the ideas she had previously expressed. In addition, they tried to convict her of adherence to the ideas of communism. For example, Senator John F. Kennedy (Republican from Louisiana) asked Omarova if she had left the Young Communists organization. To which Omarova retorted that, perhaps, the legislator had in mind the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union – the Komsomol.
Omarova explained that she was born and raised in the USSR, where many were members of the Komsomol, and membership in it ceased with the onset of a certain age.
However, Kennedy still asked her to check her archives for a copy of the letter of leaving the Komsomol.
“Senator, I’m not a communist, I don’t subscribe to this ideology,” Omarova assured him, adding that a person cannot choose where to be born.
In turn, the senior Republican of the committee, Patrick Toomey (from the state of Pennsylvania), as well as a number of his other party members, accused Omarova of radicalism of ideas.
“Professor Omarova promoted radical ideas <...> Nationalizing the banking system, introducing state control over prices, supporting the idea that money is a public, not a private, good <...>… These ideas are in line with socialist views, ”he said.
Therefore, according to Toomey, the potential appointment of a candidate with similar views to the position of head of the Foreign Exchange Control Department of the Ministry of Finance is “alarming and frightening.” The Republican called on his party colleagues to vote against the approval of Omarova for office.
In response, Democrat Elizabeth Warren (from Massachusetts) accused Republicans of conducting a “vicious smear campaign” promoted by major banks.
“Speaking against Professor Omarova has nothing to do with her qualifications or ability to do the job,” she said.
If appointed, Omarov will become the first woman to head the Foreign Exchange Control Department in its entire 158-year history.
Earlier, on November 17, Fox News reported that Omarova had a “criminal record.” In 1995, she was arrested for “shoplifting at a retail outlet.” The Wisconsin Department of Justice provided evidence that Saule Omarova was arrested by the Madison, Wisconsin police on June 2, 1995 on petty misdemeanor charges. In January 1996, Omarova’s prosecution was dropped as her charges were dropped under the Wisconsin First Offense Program.
The White House stood up for Omarova and told the TV channel that the incident was known throughout her career. Omarova did not hide anything and did not hide anything.
On November 3, Joe Biden submitted to the Senate her candidacy for the post of head of the foreign exchange control department of the US Treasury. The American president first spoke about Omarova’s candidacy back in September. Then it provoked a lot of objections from the Republicans.
According to open sources, Omarova was born in the Kazakh SSR. Graduated from Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov in 1989, and in 1991 she moved to the States, became a professor at Cornell University. She worked for Davis Polk & Wardwell, one of the largest law firms in New York, as well as in the administration of the 43rd US President George W. Bush.