Skip to content

Ways & Means, Financial Services Republicans Launch Investigation into Far-Left Treasury Advisory Committee

October 20, 2022

As inflation crushes American families and the U.S. faces a cruel Biden recession, the Biden Administration is politicizing the Treasury Department with a new far-left advisory committee. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), and the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), along with Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the top Republicans on each Committees’ Oversight Subcommittees, are launching an investigation into the Treasury’s partisan advisory committee—demanding information on its role, goals, and membership criteria.

Read the full letter here. Key excerpts are below:

“We write to express our concern with the membership and formation of the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (Advisory Committee). The timing of the Advisory Committee’s formation and the elevation of a radically partisan left-wing voice to lead this initiative are disturbing. The formation of this Advisory Committee will only worsen this Administration’s politicization of the Department of Treasury (Treasury) and distract it from its core responsibilities which include ensuring a level playing field for all Americans.

“In particular, the elevation of Felicia Wong to a leadership role given her past radical and divisive views on issues such as budget cuts to law enforcement deviates from the core trust placed in Treasury to protect the economic well-being of all Americans. At a time when workers’ paychecks are not keeping up with the needs of their families due to record high inflation and Americans of all backgrounds are struggling to make ends meet, Treasury is side-tracked by a misguided agenda that will further entrench inequity by favoring some Americans over others. 

“Moreover, the insertion of Advisory Committee members and the Administration’s equity agenda into Treasury’s day-to-day activities is particularly concerning given the radical policy positions held by some members selected to serve on the Advisory Committee. For example, reports indicate that the Vice Chair of the Advisory Committee, Ms. Wong, supports policies such as defunding the police and center all policy on race because ‘no policy, even if facially race-neutral, is race-neutral in practice.’ These assertions are alarming and raise serious concerns that the Advisory Committee will advance radical and divisive views within Treasury and the Administration, particularly in the absence of countervailing views that can ensure a diversity of perspective. …”

Read the full letter here.