Saule Omarova, the Biden nominee to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has tended a letter to the White House withdrawing from nomination as questions about her birth in Kazakhstan, then part of the Soviet Union, and questions about her loyalty to the USA continued to undermine support from moderate Dems and Republicans.
As the NYT Reports:
In a letter to the White House, Ms. Omarova said it was “no longer tenable” for her to seek the position of comptroller of the currency. Mr. Biden, who said Ms. Omarova had “lived the American dream” by escaping her birthplace in the former Soviet Union and serving the United States, accepted her request.
“Saule would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people,” he said in a statement. “But unfortunately, from the very beginning of her nomination, Saule was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale.”
…..Ms. Omarova faced months of criticism from Republicans and bank lobbyists who cast her as a threat to the American economy. Lobbyists began to oppose her almost as soon as her nomination was announced, saying she wanted to replace the banking industry’s functions with services provided by the Federal Reserve.
…. Some lobbyists, including the incoming chairman of a group representing community bankers and the chief executive of another group that focuses on big banks, also shared a Wall Street Journal editorial suggesting that Ms. Omarova’s Soviet childhood meant that she could not be trusted.
CNN adds:
During her confirmation hearing last month, Republicans harshly questioned Omarova, who was born in the Soviet Union. GOP Sen. John Kennedy, in a widely circulated exchange, said, "I don't know whether to call you professor or comrade."
"Senator, I'm not a communist," Omarova responded during the hearing. "I do not subscribe to that ideology. I could not choose where I was born."
…. "I grew up without knowing half of my family. My grandmother herself escaped death twice under the Stalin regime. This is what's seared in my mind. That's who I am. I remember that history. I came to this country. I'm proud to be an American," she said.
NPR picks up from there:
Omarova, a Cornell University law professor, had faced strong opposition from Senate Republicans over her academic research, which had proposed some major changes to the banking system.
…. Yet some moderate Democrats had also expressed reservations about her previous positions, making her path to confirmation challenging in the closely-divided Senate even if she had strong support from progressives.
"I deeply value President Biden's trust in my abilities and remain firmly committed to the Administration's vision of a prosperous, inclusive, and just future for our country," Omarova wrote in her letter requesting the White House withdraw her nomination to head the OCC.
"At this point in the process, however, it is no longer tenable for me to continue as a Presidential nominee," she added.
Biden does not have an immediate replacement for her as nominee, so this becomes yet another empty seat in an office unfilled as his term near its first anniversary.
The treatment of Omarova, a respected academic and Cornell University Law Professor, points to the increasing Cold War mentality infecting US society, particularly impacting academics and scientists from China and Russia, who have come under a cloud of suspicion, FBI investigations and DOJ prosecutions (which have gone nowhere) initiated under Trump but continuing under Biden.
Will this prompt Biden to rethink his own political rhetoric? Or, in the face of foreign policy conflicts with Russia and China that have amplified since he took office striking an adversarial posture, will he maintain the stauts quo and choose a US-born, vanilla flavored candidate more palatable to the Senate?
If you put your hand in a fire you are fanning, it can get burned, and at a point, having a less-qualified but less controversial nominee that can win approval may be the practical choice.
We shall see.
Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021 · 4:11:03 PM +00:00
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koNko
The White House has issued a statement, clicking the link you can read it followed by Omarova’s full statement
Statement of President Joe Biden and Nominee for Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Saule Omarova
I have accepted Saule Omarova’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. I nominated Saule because of her deep expertise in financial regulation and her long-standing, respected career in the private sector, the public sector, and as a leading academic in the field. She has lived the American dream, escaping her birthplace in the former Soviet Union and immigrating to America, where she went on to serve in the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush and now works as a professor at Cornell Law School.