Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee

Nominations of Federal Reserve Nominees Philip Jefferson, Lisa Cook, Adriana Kugler

S-216 Capitol
Wed, 12 Jul 2023 18:00:00 GMT

The Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will meet in executive session to vote on the following nominations:
  • Philip Nathan Jefferson, of North Carolina, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System;
  • Lisa DeNell Cook, of Michigan, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and
  • Adriana Debora Kugler, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

In a recent meeting to hear testimony from the slate of candidates, the panel’s ranking member, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), accused Lisa Cook and Adriana Kugler of seeking to “use their positions … to influence and immerse their philosophies into the mainstream of American life.”

Scott said they were, among other things, looking to impose a “climate agenda” and “ESG” — shorthand for the practice of making investment decisions according to environmental, social and governmental principles — which he said are “issues that distract from the actual job of the Fed.”

Cook was first nominated in January 2022 and confirmed in May 2022.

Kugler, the World Bank Group Executive Director for the United States, was nominated in May 2023.