Banking Republicans Call on President Biden to Withdraw Anti-Police Nominees
Nominees Previous Public Statements Call Into Question Fitness to Serve
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and all Republican members on the Committee are calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw the nominations of all individuals pending before the Senate who have espoused disparaging views on law enforcement or advocated for defunding the police.
“If your administration is truly serious about distancing itself from radical anti-police movements championed by far-left activists . . . you should strongly consider withdrawing any of your pending nominees who have advocated for defunding the police or endorsed other policies that would gravely jeopardize the health and safety of law enforcement officials or the communities they serve,” the senators wrote. “At least two such nominees are currently pending before the Senate Banking Committee alone.”
Committee staff recently uncovered the deleted tweets of Solomon Greene, nominee for Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Julia Gordon, nominee for Assistant Secretary for the Office of Housing and Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration at HUD. Both nominees used their Twitter accounts to disparage police officers and advocate for defunding the police.
In June 2020, Mr. Greene authored an anti-police piece for the Urban Institute advocating for “recapturing funding from the police” and arguing that “too many families of color live in neighborhoods . . . endangered by overpolicing.”
In July 2020, Ms. Gordon published a letter in her role as President of the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST) contending that police departments are structurally racist institutions.
Mr. Greene and Ms. Gordon are set to appear before the Committee on Thursday.
“Mr. Greene and Ms. Gordon’s statements disparaging police officers and advocating for defunding the police are deeply disappointing and call into question their fitness to serve in senior positions in the federal government,” they continued. “If your administration wants to be taken seriously in its effort to distance itself from radical anti-police movements, we urge you to withdraw the nominations of Mr. Greene, Ms. Gordon, and any other nominees with disparaging views on law enforcement pending before the Senate and stop nominating any additional anti-police advocates.”
Banking Committee Republicans signing the letter to President Biden include: Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).
To read the full letter, click here.
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