Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news to.
Speaker 2: The news of the day, including of course, the late
Speaker 2: Friday announcement that Scott Bessett will be, if Donald Trump
Speaker 2: gets his way, the next Secretary of the Treasury.
Speaker 3: Course keeping in mind that.
Speaker 2: If Besson is to be the next Treasury Secretary, he
Speaker 2: does still need to win Senate confirmation, but he has
Speaker 2: had a pretty clear narrative of the agenda he would
Speaker 2: like to pursue this kind of three three three policy.
Speaker 2: He says, reduced debt to three percent from the current
Speaker 2: six percent, make GDP growth go up to three percent,
Speaker 2: and pump three million more barrels a day of crude
Speaker 2: in the United States. He also has floated the idea
Speaker 2: of a shadow FED chair and had this to say
Speaker 2: to Joe Matthew and myself last month when he joined
Speaker 2: us about the influence Donald Trump might want to have
Speaker 2: on FED policy.
Speaker 1: He has a deep understanding of financial markets, as opposed
Speaker 1: to most politicians, so he wants to be in in
Speaker 1: the conversation. He has very well formed opinions. He has
Speaker 1: a lot of private sector friends, so he just wants
Speaker 1: to be a voice.
Speaker 2: We want to add another voice to our program here
Speaker 2: on Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio. In
Speaker 2: turns of the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee,
Speaker 2: the Democratic Congressman from California, Maxine Waters, is joining me now. Congresswoman,
Speaker 2: thanks so much for being here. I would love first
Speaker 2: just your reaction to the nomination of Scott Besson. Will
Speaker 2: he be an adequate steward of the US economy.
Speaker 4: Let me just say this, as the world has been
Speaker 4: watching President Trump's appointees, it is not about competence.
Speaker 3: It is not about the ability.
Speaker 4: To be an advocate for the people and protect investors
Speaker 4: and do all that needs to be done to ensure
Speaker 4: that the people of this country, that the Americans have
Speaker 4: someone looking out for their best teters. He has made
Speaker 4: his appointments based on loyalty. Loyalty and that.
Speaker 3: Means they will do whatever he wants.
Speaker 4: And so you know, I consider the new public policy
Speaker 4: will be whatever Trump wants by his appointees who have been.
Speaker 3: Chosen because of their loyalty.
Speaker 4: So I can I get into whether or not this appointee,
Speaker 4: As you know, the Treasury is different from anybody else.
Speaker 4: But I expect right now that we're going to be
Speaker 4: up against appointees at every level of government that are
Speaker 4: loyal to Trump, and they're going to take this country
Speaker 4: in a whole new direction, as identified in Project twenty
Speaker 4: twenty five.
Speaker 2: So when it comes to Scott Beston specifically Congressoan, do
Speaker 2: you think the market is perhaps misplaced in its notion
Speaker 2: that he actually could be something of about and sing
Speaker 2: force for the president, a kind of steady hand, if
Speaker 2: you will, when it comes to the extent of tariffs
Speaker 2: that should be pursued, for example, you don't believe that
Speaker 2: to be true.
Speaker 3: No, I do not believe it to be true. Again,
Speaker 3: and let me reiterate.
Speaker 4: These appointments are based on whether they're going to do
Speaker 4: what Trump wants them to do. It is not based
Speaker 4: on any evidence that they can be independent, that they
Speaker 4: in fact will be looking out for the best censures
Speaker 4: of the people.
Speaker 3: And so I'm prepared.
Speaker 4: I'm prepared for whatever Trump wants them to do, and
Speaker 4: I'm prepared to fight that. I'm prepared to be able
Speaker 4: to help organize that committee the democratic side to educate
Speaker 4: the public about what they're.
Speaker 3: Doing and what's going on. So I'm not going to back.
Speaker 4: Up and say we can't get anything done. We're going
Speaker 4: to continue to try and put before the American people
Speaker 4: the kind of public policy that they expect appointees and
Speaker 4: elected officials to do on behalf of the people.
Speaker 3: And then we want to.
Speaker 4: See if we could not only educate and inform, but
Speaker 4: whether or not the American people are going to understand
Speaker 4: that they now have a president of the United States
Speaker 4: of America who has no respect for the Constitution, does
Speaker 4: not care what president is on any subject, and that
Speaker 4: he's going to do what he wants to do. And
Speaker 4: so I'm looking for him to reveal himself as he
Speaker 4: has identified himself.
Speaker 2: Well, Congresswoman, as you look ahead to the work you'd
Speaker 2: like to continue doing as a ranking member of House
Speaker 2: Financial Services, you're going to be working with another Republican
Speaker 2: atop that committee. Is there's jockeying now for the chairmanship,
Speaker 2: a number of candidates, of course who are vying. Is
Speaker 2: there someone you'd most like to work with that you
Speaker 2: think the most productive bipartisan legislative work out of the
Speaker 2: committee could happen under.
Speaker 3: That's a possibility.
Speaker 4: But if I identify them right now to you for
Speaker 4: the public, this probably would lessen their opportunity of getting chosen.
Speaker 4: So yes, I hope there could be someone that follows
Speaker 4: that description, but I can't tell you whom at this point, So.
Speaker 2: Just one of the candidates in my understanding, you think
Speaker 2: you could work with on a bipartisan basis of the
Speaker 2: three or four that have been floated, Well, to.
Speaker 4: Tell you the truth, I could work with members from
Speaker 4: the opposite side of the isle pretty much in the
Speaker 4: way that I've worked with the McHenry and others. But
Speaker 4: we've got to see who's willing to step up to
Speaker 4: the plate and do what is necessary to protect our investors,
Speaker 4: do what's necessary to hold on to the Consumer Financial
Speaker 4: Protection Bureau that's protecting our consumers. Any of those who
Speaker 4: can do that, I can certainly work with them.
Speaker 2: Well, we have seen some bipartisan work coming out of
Speaker 2: the MIDI in this committee in one hundred and eighteenth Congress,
Speaker 2: including bill that advanced out of the committee and ultimately
Speaker 2: passed on the House floor of the Fit twenty one Act,
Speaker 2: the Market Structure crypto legislation in Congressman, and I wonder
Speaker 2: what you think the future is of those kinds of
Speaker 2: legislative initiatives now that Republicans won't just have control of
Speaker 2: your body, but the Senate as well.
Speaker 3: Well, let me tell you.
Speaker 4: I've worked very closely with mce henry where we've tried
Speaker 4: to get stable going.
Speaker 3: Our efforts have been about guard rails.
Speaker 4: We are not opposed to legitimate legislation that appears to
Speaker 4: be in the best interest of the people of this country,
Speaker 4: and there may be some crypto that would like to
Speaker 4: have guard rails. If there are guardrails that we can
Speaker 4: agree to working with all of the entities that are
Speaker 4: interested in and are part of developing if we're ever
Speaker 4: going to get there, and that means the Treasury, that
Speaker 4: means the Federal Reserve, that means the sec that means
Speaker 4: all of these agencies have to come together with the
Speaker 4: President on crypto in order to have something that will have.
Speaker 3: Guardrails and will not just be determined.
Speaker 4: By the fact that crypto companies are trying to invade
Speaker 4: all of our financial services members with large contribution, etc.
Speaker 3: Etc.
Speaker 4: We know what's going on, and we think now they're
Speaker 4: going to have an opportunity to learn more about what
Speaker 4: crypto really is and how it works in this digital
Speaker 4: economy that we're involved in.
Speaker 3: So we've got a lot of you.
Speaker 4: Understanding, a lot of searching out, and a lot of
Speaker 4: educating to do and if we can work with anyone
Speaker 4: who's willing to do that and provide these guardrails ready.
Speaker 3: And I think some of my members are.
Speaker 4: And I do believe that some of the members who
Speaker 4: voted for the crypto legislation that you're talking about will
Speaker 4: no more now about what they voted for and be
Speaker 4: a lot more skeptical than they were or when they
Speaker 4: decided that they would give it a chance, that they
Speaker 4: would go ahead and vote in ways that they didn't
Speaker 4: quite understand. But I don't think that'll be the case anymore.
Speaker 2: Well, you just mentioned their congresswoman, the SEC's role in this.
Speaker 2: The chair, Gary Gensler, of course, has announced that he
Speaker 2: will be stepping down on January twentieth, when this new
Speaker 2: president and new administration comes in. And I wonder, given
Speaker 2: the nominees for other regulatory agencies that we have already
Speaker 2: seen coming from Donald Trump, Brendan Carr, for example, at
Speaker 2: the FCC, what concern you might have about the kind
Speaker 2: of person who could ultimately fill the shoes that Gary
Speaker 2: Gensler is stepping out of.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, a Gansler was an expert in crypto.
Speaker 4: He taught crypto at the University, and many of those
Speaker 4: in the crypto business did not like him, did not
Speaker 4: want him because they knew too much and he wanted guardrails.
Speaker 4: And he was absolutely the one who I believe should
Speaker 4: be in position to deal with securities as we understand them.
Speaker 4: Crypto is a security, It is not a commodity, and
Speaker 4: that's what the fight is all about, commodity versus security.
Speaker 4: And I don't know who can fill those shoes, but
Speaker 4: we'll have to see.
Speaker 2: Well, we know gangsters will be out of those shoes
Speaker 2: in January. A term that goes much longer, though, and
Speaker 2: there's no sign that this person will be leaving in
Speaker 2: advance of the term being up. Is Michael Barr, the
Speaker 2: vice chair of Supervision at the Federal Reserve, who, of
Speaker 2: course initially put forward the Basel three end game proposal
Speaker 2: with higher capital requirements for big bangs, something many your
Speaker 2: colleagues on the Financial Services Committee and the President elect
Speaker 2: have been highly critical of.
Speaker 3: How do you expect Michael.
Speaker 2: Barr will fare under this new administration? Do you think
Speaker 2: that Donald Trump might actually try to fire or demote him?
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, let me just go back and
Speaker 4: some of what you just said, I think I missed,
Speaker 4: But let me tell you if you mentioned Powell or
Speaker 4: at the Federal Reserve, he cannot fire him, and he's
Speaker 4: not going to leave, and we've already gotten him to
Speaker 4: make that a public statement, and so he'll be there.
Speaker 4: Now if you're talking about a Ginstler and why he
Speaker 4: would be stepping down, he knows Trump does not want him.
Speaker 4: Trump would fire him in a hot second, and so
Speaker 4: he's stepping down.
Speaker 3: He will not be there.
Speaker 4: I don't know much about a replacement, and whether or
Speaker 4: not they will come in with the same kind of
Speaker 4: understanding that the securities must be DELA and that crypto
Speaker 4: are securities.
Speaker 3: And so if they come in already thinking that.
Speaker 4: That's not the business of the sec the Securities Exchange Commission,
Speaker 4: that rather it is a commodity, then we have a problem.
Speaker 4: And so we've got all of these issues to work out.
Speaker 2: A congressman I had asked, and I'm sorry if I
Speaker 2: was hard to understand. Michael Barr, the vice chair of
Speaker 2: Supervision at the Federal Reserve, who of course will oversee
Speaker 2: the future of capital requirements for big banks. What do
Speaker 2: you think his future holds in this incoming administry?
Speaker 3: Let me just tell you.
Speaker 4: We've got to continue to educate our members and the
Speaker 4: public on why it is so important that we have
Speaker 4: capital requirements and that we have what we need to
Speaker 4: protect against, you know, the kind of meltdown that we
Speaker 4: had in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 3: You know, we cannot.
Speaker 4: The lessons that have been learned about capital requirements, and
Speaker 4: so we're going to push very hard with all of
Speaker 4: the information, with all of the history about what took
Speaker 4: place when we had the meltdown in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 4: and this country was practically ruined because of a lack
Speaker 4: of the ability of the banks of this country to
Speaker 4: be able to ensure all of our depositors and investors
Speaker 4: that they could be safe.
Speaker 2: All right, Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us
Speaker 2: here on Bloomberg TV and Radio. That is the ranking
Speaker 2: member of the House Financial Services Committee. Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters,
Speaker 2: thank you.