Warren Statement Opposing Faulkender Nomination for Deputy Treasury Secretary
“When Republicans’ own nominee to be the number 2 guy at the Treasury Department is admitting that the math for the Republican tax plan doesn’t work, then the Republicans have a problem.”
“Dr. Faulkender has said over and over again that he is all on board with Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plans [to cut] Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security…”
Washington, D.C. – At the Senate Finance Committee’s markup onvote the nomination of Dr. Michael Faulkender, President Trump’s nominee for Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) explained her decision to vote against Dr. Faulkender, calling him “a nominee who’s willing to sell out working families for billionaires, millionaires, and billionaire corporations.”
Transcript: Open Executive Session Consider Favorably Reporting the Nomination of The Honorable Michael Faulkender, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
Senate Finance Committee
March 14, 2025
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will be voting no on Dr. Faulkender’s nomination as Deputy Treasury Secretary.
I cannot support a nominee who wants to support Trump’s plan to slash taxes for millionaires, billionaires, and massive corporations.
I cannot support a nominee who’s okay with Elon Musk’s takeover of the Treasury Department and IRS.
And I cannot support a nominee who is willing to gut Medicaid and take money away from nursing homes in order to give the wealthy more tax cuts.
But I will give Dr. Faulkender some credit. Despite his strong support for Donald Trump’s billionaire tax cuts, he admitted to me last week in our hearing that Republicans’ plans to use magic math to ram through those tax cuts make no sense.
Republicans have a problem on their hands. They love to talk about how they care about the deficit. But Congress’ independent scorekeepers have said that their plan to cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy will cost about $4.6 trillion.
So the Republicans’ response? Magic math. They want to use a gimmick called the “current policy baseline” to say that these tax cuts for the rich will cost a whopping $0.
So I asked Dr. Faulkender last week: Does using some magic words to describe Republican tax cuts mean that those tax cuts will deliver more money for the government?
And to his credit, he said: Nope, it does not.
Here’s the thing. When Republicans’ own nominee to be the number 2 guy at the Treasury Department is admitting that the math for the Republican tax plan doesn’t work, then the Republicans have a problem.
But admitting that Republicans can’t repeal math does not make this guy qualified to run the Treasury Department.
Dr. Faulkender has said over and over again that he is all on board with Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s plans. And what are those plans? They are hell-bent on cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security – either to pay for those giant tax cuts, or – I guess – just for the cruelty of it all.
I can’t support a nominee who’s willing to sell out working families for billionaires, millionaires, and billionaire corporations.
I urge my colleagues to join me in voting no on Dr. Faulkender.
###
Next Article Previous Article