Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Elizabeth Warren, on the
Speaker 1: other hand, is not as we told you. Will be
Speaker 1: joined here by the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, having issued
Speaker 1: a blistering statement following this FED decision, Kaylee, saying the
Speaker 1: entire Federal Reserve Board, including appointees of both parties, should
Speaker 1: be embarrassed. She's with us now, the Democrat from Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: live from Capitol Hill. Senator, it's great to see you
Speaker 1: back on Bloomberg TV and radio. You are demanding five
Speaker 1: years of exam reports from Wells Fargo, and I wonder
Speaker 1: what leverage you have here how far you would go
Speaker 1: to get them. Would you threaten to hold up the nomination,
Speaker 1: for instance, of Michelle Bowman as the Fed's Vice Chair
Speaker 1: of Supervision to get them.
Speaker 2: Look, I'm already opposed to having Michelle Bowman as the
Speaker 2: Vice chair for Supervision. This is someone who has never
Speaker 2: seen a regulation for a giant bank that she wasn't
Speaker 2: willing to cut or undermine. But understand this about Wells Fargo.
Speaker 2: I think before you decide to lift this big penalty
Speaker 2: that's been in place for Wells Fargo for seven years now,
Speaker 2: you should ask for maybe one year in which they
Speaker 2: aren't caught breaking the law. Remember that in January of
Speaker 2: this year, the SEC tagged Wells Fargo for cheating investors.
Speaker 2: In December, the CFPB tagged Wells Fargo for cheating American
Speaker 2: consumers fight it with way to the tune of over
Speaker 2: eight hundred million dollars. And in September the OCC tagged
Speaker 2: Wells Fargo for money laundry. So we have the three
Speaker 2: big banking regulators all saying Wells Fargo's out there, still
Speaker 2: breaking the law. And then a report just a few
Speaker 2: weeks ago by former and current Wells Fargo employees saying
Speaker 2: that the very activities that Wells Fargo is engaged in
Speaker 2: seven years ago, where they created fake accounts for people
Speaker 2: and so on because they were pressing their employees to
Speaker 2: get those numbers in to get more people signed up
Speaker 2: for more accounts, that that same activity is occurring today.
Speaker 2: And those are the circumstances under which the Fed unanimously says, hey,
Speaker 2: Wells Fargo, get on out of here. You don't need
Speaker 2: any extra regulation.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: That just doesn't wash.
Speaker 3: Do you see any potential benefit here, Senator though, of
Speaker 3: Wells Fargo being able to better compete with other big
Speaker 3: banks for the competitive landscape to change in that way.
Speaker 2: Look, I'm all for competition, but I don't think that
Speaker 2: cheaters ought to have a leg up in competing. And
Speaker 2: that's really the part to remember here about Wells Fargo.
Speaker 2: The reason we want to have good enforcement of all
Speaker 2: of the banking laws is that the banks that actually
Speaker 2: follow the law, the banks that aren't engaged in money laundering,
Speaker 2: or the banks that are not cheating their investors, that
Speaker 2: those banks ought to be able to play on a
Speaker 2: level playing field. And Wells Fargo, we know starting seven
Speaker 2: years ago that Wells Fargo was so boosting its profits
Speaker 2: and by the way, it's CEO compensation based on cheating
Speaker 2: American customers. And in fact, it was so awful what
Speaker 2: they did that it wasn't just civil penalties. They were
Speaker 2: in violation of criminal laws. So the idea that, boyd,
Speaker 2: we want to get them right back out there competing
Speaker 2: with the other banks at a time when their own
Speaker 2: employees are saying, hey, they're back to doing the stuff
Speaker 2: they were doing before. That's that's not the direction we
Speaker 2: want to go.
Speaker 1: Senator Elizabeth Warren Live with us on Bloomberg TV and
Speaker 1: Radio I'm going to ask you to walk with me
Speaker 1: here for a second, Senator, because I don't know if
Speaker 1: Donald Trump is watching us right now, but the President
Speaker 1: is posting about you right now, just on truth Social
Speaker 1: Donald Trump writes, quote, I am very pleased to announce that,
Speaker 1: after all these years, I agree with Senator Elizabeth Warren
Speaker 1: on something. The debt limit should be entirely scrapped to
Speaker 1: prevent an economic catastrophe. He's reposting you here where you
Speaker 1: suggest as much. This is less than twenty four hours
Speaker 1: after Elon Musk said shame on Republicans who passed the
Speaker 1: reconciliation bill in the House. You're finding yourself within a
Speaker 1: twenty four hour period, agreeing with Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Speaker 1: What's going on around here?
Speaker 2: Well, look, I think on the debt ceiling, I've been
Speaker 2: on this for many, many years. The debt ceiling is
Speaker 2: just something that's been used as leverage in negotiations. The
Speaker 2: United States should never never threaten to default on its debt.
Speaker 2: We should get rid of this debt ceiling altogether. When
Speaker 2: we pass a bill saying that we're going to do
Speaker 2: a certain thing, that is our saying, and we're going
Speaker 2: to pay for it. That's what the United States government does.
Speaker 2: So I think that Donald Trump and I, hey listen,
Speaker 2: I'm ready to join up with him and make that happen.
Speaker 2: We need to get rid of the debt ceiling altogether,
Speaker 2: not extend it. Not say ooh, while this is going
Speaker 2: on this budget negotiation, let's just roll out a few
Speaker 2: trillion dollars more in the debt ceiling. Nope, that has
Speaker 2: gotten us into trouble before, it continues to get us
Speaker 2: into trouble. Donald Trump is right, let's get rid of
Speaker 2: it all together.
Speaker 3: Well, So, Senator, if we are to see if the
Speaker 3: Senate and House cannot get this reconciliation bill through in
Speaker 3: time for the mid July request the Treasury Secretary has
Speaker 3: made to avoid bumping up against the X state, would
Speaker 3: you support an initiative like that, separately, a legislative effort
Speaker 3: to eliminate the debt ceiling before that X state comes.
Speaker 2: Now, look, we should do it now. There's no reason
Speaker 2: to delay. Donald Trump. That's exactly right on this. It's
Speaker 2: what I've been arguing for literally for years, and that
Speaker 2: is get rid of the debt ceiling. It's serving no
Speaker 2: function except for holdout parties. To try to use in negotiations,
Speaker 2: and that makes no sense, that doesn't serve our nation.
Speaker 2: But we should do that now. It doesn't need to
Speaker 2: be tied to anything, it doesn't need any special date
Speaker 2: on it. Ask the Republicans, they're the ones in control
Speaker 2: of the floor. Let's bring that to the floor right now.
Speaker 2: It's a simple piece of legislation. I'm ready to go
Speaker 2: on it. I think it's the right thing for us
Speaker 2: to do.
Speaker 1: Senator, I want to ask you, from your perch on
Speaker 1: the Armed Services Committee about what else we heard from
Speaker 1: Donald Trump today. He had an hour and fifteen minute
Speaker 1: long call with Vladimir Putin. At the end of the call,
Speaker 1: he wrote about it and said that peace is not
Speaker 1: imminent in Ukraine. He did say, however, that Putin will
Speaker 1: have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields
Speaker 1: that Ukraine conducted over the weekend using this wild scheme
Speaker 1: with drones that had been smuggled into the country. What
Speaker 1: do you make of this assessment and what is Ukraine
Speaker 1: in for in the days ahead?
Speaker 2: Right? Look, Vladimir Putin has been playing Donald Trump, and
Speaker 2: pretty much everybody in the world can see that's just
Speaker 2: me seeing it, not just people in the United States
Speaker 2: see it. Leaders around the world see it. And it
Speaker 2: looks like Donald Trump is beginning to figure that out
Speaker 2: and starting to push back against Putin. We owe it
Speaker 2: to Ukraine to do everything we can to support them
Speaker 2: in their fight. They are on the front lines fighting
Speaker 2: for democracy, and they are in the front lines against
Speaker 2: an expansionist Russia. Understand this. If Ukraine falls and Vladimir
Speaker 2: Putin gets either a big chunk of it or all
Speaker 2: of it, He's not stopping there. He's coming for more
Speaker 2: and more and more, because that's who Vladimir Putin is.
Speaker 2: It is important right now to help Ukraine push back.
Speaker 2: They are on the front lines fighting the war for
Speaker 2: democracy on behalf of all of Europe, on behalf of
Speaker 2: the United States, on behalf of freedom loving countries everywhere
Speaker 2: in the world, and we should give them all the
Speaker 2: support we can.
Speaker 3: All right, Senator, we appreciate you joining us on Bloomberg
Speaker 3: TV and radio. The Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, also ranking
Speaker 3: member of the Senate Banking Committee, Elizabeth Warren with us
Speaker 3: here on balance of Power.