Main screen. We are senators that he is that videoconference option hit the mute button until it is your turn to ask questions. If there is a Technology Issue we will move to the next senator until the issue is resolved. I remind all senators and the nominees the fiveminute clock still applies. For senators using the video option, youll notice a screen labeled clock showing how much time is remaining at 30 seconds i will tap the gavel to remind them the time is almost expired. To simplify the speaking order we have agreed to go by seniority for this first hybrid meeting. Thank you to those of you who are here today and keeping the capital complex safe and functioning while we honor our constitutional duty. Covid19 has challenged our sense of normalcy and tested every institution of daily life that we know. The crisis has had a major impact on the Economic Health of our country and the major responses been required. Congress and the administration of taken bold, dramatic steps for the economic shock the country is experiencing to provide conditions for a quick and robust economic recovery once restrictions are lifted. That cares act went into effect just over one month ago to put needed cash into hands of American Workers and families providing rapid relief helping to stabilize the markets and the economy and to send a massive new infusion of resources to the front lines of the medical response the banking committees jurisdiction provides 500 billion in emergency relief to provide liquidity with those municipalities related to those losses incurred as a result of coronavirus. This is an important step to supporting the flow of credit in the economy on april 9, 2020 the Federal Reserve board announced a new and expanded set of lending programs two. 3 trillion of loans specifically main Street Lending facility is the components to support a ushaped recovery that reinforces the need to have them up and operating to be as broadly available as businesses as possible title for has robust oversight requirements to ensure the statute is followed to protect against waste fraud and abuse the special Inspector General another new federal acronym will oversee the reporting and requirements of the law and it is critical so important work can become one can begin. We will consider the nominations honorable brian miller to be his special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery. And mrs. Dana wade of the District Of Columbia to be assistant secretary for housing and federal housing commissioner for the Us Department of housing and urban Development Welcome to both of you congratulations on your nomination this establishes the special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery but then to coordinate audits and investigations of the making a purchase management and sale of loan guarantees and other investments made under any program established under this act and the management by the secretary of any program established under this act. Mr. Millers highly qualified for special Inspector General for the General Services administration for nearly a decade the Senate Confirmed mr. Miller to that position in 2005 via voice vote a position he held for nearly ten years in that role with more than 300 auditors and support staff to conduct nationwide audits and investigations and reported on fraud waste and abuse. He has been outspoken on the need for the Inspector General to have independence and access to information im confident he will carry out those responsibilities diligently and independently and objectively. During the Senate Judiciary hearing mr. Miller noted that to have effective oversight the ig must have independence to have the reviewer audit this includes determining what information is needed and the judgment of the ig conducting the investigation that matters not the judgment of the agency being investigated i encourage my colleagues to approve the nomination to for the oversight role. Dana wade as well prepared to take over the reins at the fha and familiar to the task having operators federal housing commissioner in general Deputy Assistant secretary for the office of housing. Is acting commissioner she directly manage the portfolio singlefamily multi family and healthcare insurance. Such a project for rental assistance the office of manufactured 2400 personal agencywide her extensive record of poor housing policy experience as Senior Advisor to secretary ben Carson Deputy staff director and the Senate Appropriations committee and associate director at the omb with all housing related issues among other agencies great leadership would be required during this unprecedented time on both home and rental markets in the wake of covid19 we have already seen over 10 percent of fha borrowers enter mortgage forbearance insured Healthcare Facilities feel significant strain and many fha assisted landlords struggle to make ends meet while countless renters are unsure where the next rent payment will come from. In the months ahead will be on the frontlines and to have muchneeded liquidity through the Housing Finance system i am confident mrs. Wade will give exactly the type of leadership that is needed during this critical time as commissioner montgomery has done i encourage my colleagues to support the nomination and with deputy secretary so that to tackle the challenges ahead. So thank you for your willingness to serve. Senator brown . Thank you to staff the office of attending physician Recording Studio and this is a team effort to work so hard the last couple of weeks to make hearings as safe as possible including using technology from members to join remotely members senators of both parties and the majority of the committee has decided to join us that way. Thank you to Capital Police and all senate staff and contractors who continue to make sure the Senate Continues to run also the senator and his staff and those in my office and the staff director and cameron to Work Together to coordinate this hearing and for senators to join something that we could all do what we think is best to keep ourselves and people who work here safe. I am concerned however mr. Chairman of the reckless decision of leader Mitch Mcconnell to open the senate to session despite ongoing emergency stayathome orders all of the country including in my state and washington dc and senator van hollands maryland and virginia. Leader mcconnells actions are forcing capital complex workers, contract workers like the cleaning staff who just cleaned this hearing room and will clean again when we are done, Food Service Workers who just serve the Republican Caucus lunch they hear working is going against Public Health authorities advice and they put themselves at risk to come to work. Most of those and like all of us who will probably come to the capital walking from a nearby apartment or condo most of them come by bus and subway and they put themselves at risk creating more anxiety for their families and senator mcconnells decision was reckless and unfair especially to those employees. To compound that the Republican Leaders agenda does not include assistance for the unemployed anything that helps people to stay in their home i appreciated the chairmans comments how many renters are living on the edge. There is no support that we can see from senator mcconnell or to help Community Health services this is the issues the senate should be taking on right now. Want to congratulate the nominees for their willingness to serve this is probably not the confirmation hearing you hope for thank you to your families that i assume are watching from home the Inspector General for Pandemic Response will oversee the cares act and the investment programs designed to stabilize the economy and Small Businesses that are hurting so much during the pandemic is a be critical to restarting the economy to begin the recovery the fha commissioner faces the Affordable Housing crisis made worse by the pandemic the stability and future of millions of families are on the line as congress and the Administration Responded and confirmed the two of you will serve in positions that are crucial to implementing the policy responses to the pandemic. We have oversight of treasury and Federal Reserve rome loan programs thats why fought for the office of the Inspector General for Pandemic Response American People need a strong watchdog to make sure the 500 billion of taxpayer money provided under this act and the 4 trillion the Federal Reserve will lend will support workers and communities and businesses because the act grants the treasury secretary and the fed broad discretion of who gets these loans and on what terms the Inspector General will examine the lenders involved and the eligibility of borrowers. We can see how the Small Business loans so far went to Big Companies and important clients of wall street and Community Banks and Credit Unions in our states and the customers on main street and in the underserved communities waited and waited having most of us have served the frustration from restaurants and barbershops that are facing impossible situations spending hours on the phone trying to talk to someone about alone they cant get answers while wellconnected franchises moved to the front of the white person that is unacceptable this can happen to the loans by treasury the should be a lesson to congress as we consider additional recovery measures. In addition to these concerns President Trump has shown outright hostility for anyone trying to hold him accountable to the American People as he has special hostility to the inspectors general i think mr. Miller realizes that the president remove the acting ig from the Defense Department set to become chairman of the Pandemic Response fire the Intelligence Committee ig last friday and replace the acting hhs ig all of these professionals were doing their jobs and they exposed misconduct in the administration. That is what their jobs are. The last 20 years we found only one that was nominated while serving in the White House Counsels Office and then serving under an earlier Administration One for politicizing the office the other for lack of independence not a great track record when the president appoints a lawyer to be the Inspector General to oversee and examines white house behavior. We passed the cares act to support the economy to help main street businesses state and local governments and nonprofits we cant tolerate businesses and workers suffering to protect allies because of corruption and misuse in favoritism if you are confirmed i expect you to follow the letter and the spirit of the law to serve the american peopl people, not President Trump Inspector General you must be willing to stand up to the administration and any other bad actor anything less is unacceptable. Mr. Miller is the only nominee before us today with Pandemic Response in the title fha and office of housing will be on the frontlines of the nations response as well and good times to provide access to affordable homeownership for millions of families when the economy slows they are expected to step up to meet the needs to keep the Mortgage Market working even as others in the market retreat the 2008 financial crisis economist estimated actions prevented an additional 25 percent decline of housing prices and the loss of an additional 3 million jobs as those decisions will determine if families can remain in their homes or if communities foreclosure crisis on top of the Public Health crisis to determine if the burden of the downturn like the 2000 a crisis falls most heavily on communities of color and exacerbates economic inequality or if we want that policy and oversight to have an equitable recovery and keeps Affordable Housing and communities rather than wall street investors. Confirm mrs. Wade would determine if policies and funding are in place to keep the lowest income seniors people with disability and finance with the Healthcare Facilities to keep them safe during this pandemic over the past three years the administration has tried to get funding to housing and Community Development programs to rollback housing protections and other civil rights protections to undermine the safety and tried to make homeownership more expensive and harder to attain i hope the answers today will make it clear that she will fight alongside us to reverse the trend. Mr. Chairman thank you again for being the first in the senate to do a hearing like this. Thank you. I will now administer the oath please stand and raise your right hand do you swear from the testimony about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . I do. I do. You agree to appear testify before any duly constituted committee of the senate . I do. You may sit down. Your written statements will be made a part of the record in their entirety , usually at this point we give you a chance for tradition family we will thank them on your behalf since we are keeping the number of people to a minimum and with that we would like to invite you to proceed please begin. Thank you mr. Chairman thank you to the chairman and Ranking Member for having this hearing and President Trump for nominating me and most of all i want to thank my wife and family for their encouragement to continue Public Service especially in such a demanding job. Thank you. Been fortunate to have a career in Public Service has prepared me well for this position and in the federal government 15 years in the department of justice and ten years as the Senate Confirmed Inspector General of General Services administration serving republican and democrat administrations have also served as an independent corporate monitor in the areas of ethics and compliance government contracts and internal investigations. I am amazed at humbled at the letters ive received in such a short time. In the time of a pandemic and im deeply grateful for all varieties of political stripes former officials with the obama and clinton administrations i would like to thank them and i would like them to know to be the man that they describe in their letters of confirmed i will conduct every audit an investigation with fairness and impartiality i will be vigilant to protect the independence of the office of special Inspector General and i pledge to seek the truth in all matters and to use my authority and resources to uncover fraud waste and abuse thank you mr. Chairman. Members of this committee thank you for inviting me here to testify today as a nominee for federal housing commissioner an assistant secretary for housing at the department of urban development i also want to thank President Trump for the privilege to be nominated for this position. It is truly an honor to be here after serving as a staff member from this committee and then working for senator shelby on banking and Appropriations Committee im extremely grateful for such opportunity for the love and support for my family i regret the both my husband and my daughter as well as my niece could not be here in person but i would like to wish my daughter a happy birthday. We are doing the peoples work under very different circumstances i will commit to doing everything i can as fha commissioner to help the country emerge from the covid19 pandemic healthier stronger and more prosperous economy never has it been more clear than today that head and fha play a Critical Role in this safety net secretary carson and hud is working tirelessly for, one homeowners and vulnerable populations each and every day we are grateful for the hard work and bipartisan commitment and congress to pass legislation that safeguards American Families and communities from this terrible virus. It was a financial crisis of 2000 a and will serve me well of confirmed during times like these it is important to make sure assistance reaches those in need and that we maximize the effectiveness of every federal dollar. With the associate Director Office of management and budget also the acting head with implementing reforms to build up capital manage risk and with Greater Transparency to the public if confirmed my priority for fha in the housing would be as follows first, given the unprecedented situation and Global Pandemic protecting homer owners and renters low to moderate income first time and minority borrowers and most of these experiencing covid related hardships through no fault of their own and to have the necessary staffing and other resources as well as continuing the icy modernization effort to allow fha to performance important countercyclical role for the Housing Market and third i will vigilantly monitor the risk due to covid19 and i will protect the capital reserve to the maximum extent possible we believe fha has a duty to support the Housing Markets and homeowners facing Economic Hardship all the virus will pass in the economy will gain its previous strength, the road to recovery will require the sustained effort. I will do all that i can to have sustainable fha to have renters and taxpayers well and im committed to working with this committee and to answer your questions today. Thank you. It will begin my questions with you mr. Miller. As you heard and you are aware before you arrived here today one of the big criticisms of you you will be independent from the service in the white house and as you know independence is critical under title four and the cares act. Talk about the importance to maintain the independence and demonstrating the independence in the past and how you expect to conduct your actions if confirmed to this position. Independence is vital for the effective operation of any Inspector General and i said that not just now but for many years i served for ten years as Inspector General of the General Services administration and at every point i had to fight for independence and for those objectively fairly and independently and met with resistance with the ten year as Inspector General i conducted an investigation for major contractors much to the chagrin of people in leadership positions and i daresay in congress and i received criticism for that and ultimately the audits were correct and accurate. And with that oversight of leadership. I believe my tenure as Inspector General help gsa to become a better agency. Working with men and women at that time that is the effective operation of all programs and it does go to the Small Businesses and with that fraud waste and abuse to diver to the pockets of those that would scheme and with that Inspector General. The fha is on the frontlines with much needed liquidity throughout the finance system and is a former acting commissioner the it is Important Role to consumers and taxpayers and healthcare financing and ongoing efforts for others to implement the cares act related to housing specifically forbearance relief and homeowners impacted as well as restrictions on foreclosures and evictions working with us to implement these provisions that the options available when exiting forbearance are clear for consumers to understand and straightforward and for them to administer. Yes thank you for the question we have an unprecedented Health Crisis and we are it is incredibly important to protect homeowners and renters through no fault of their own with covid related hardships that can be a confusing time for homeowners and assisted renters its important to provide as much clarity as possible and as much certainty from fha as possible to fulfill the countercyclical duty. Many hospitals and Healthcare Facilities and Senior Living facilities against the battle of covid19 are financed in part through through section 232 or two for two programs can you speak quickly and 45 seconds with a role in the Health Care Economy and those challenges that they face . Yes. That is a great question an important part of the fha portfolio no healthcare facility should be concerned with anything except serving those that are covid19 patients in need to protect the health and safety of their employees i believe now and to have maximum flexibility and to take action for those Healthcare Facilities to access reserves and it is each and every day with the operator of these facilities and order to sustain their mortgage insurer and can appropriate finance operations during this time. First six birthday my granddaughter just celebrated unfortunately we have to do it far away but that was last month. But you are responsible for overseeing head and federal agencies like omb . Yes. That is correct. Under your leadership omb had two roles that were the Fair Housing Act whether own analysis to cost more money to displaced children in a world that would compromise religious freedom of people seeking shelter to give that track record i just dont see how we can trust you that fha and those systems are providing the equitable recovery for families. First of all thank you for your service as prosecutor and ig in your work in the past. Two years ago you wrote an article criticizing congress telling Inspector Generals to investigate the Trump Administration and four months later he gave your job at the white house now the Senate Considers an appointment to the office for among other things investigating the Trump Administration exactly what you criticize. Even if we didnt have concerns about your independence but how this administration treats the ig to do their job. Heres a recent example. And those ig identifying shortages and testing equipment and then to establish the independence right now in the hearing. Can you say its wrong to remove for doing her job. And to write an article and in the inspectors general. Im always concerned Inspector General remain independent from any influence whether the executive branch and then you are not fairly characterizing my article. And that should be report the facts and see them as they find them and then bend them to any influence whatsoever. And what about doing your job . I am not here without my background in my qualifications or this position. I understand that. But there is a skepticism where its not general practice the president of the United States nominate somebody for a job this important as Inspector General coming out of the white house. And then you have to should demonstrate your independence i was hoping this would be a way to do it. Will you view your job expansively to the fullest extent provided by law so you dont just go after a little companies or the easy cases but all of this conduct even when the evidence of wrongdoing upsets individuals for the preferred narrative . Absolutely senator. I appreciate that. The potential for conflict and concern of members of congress should be obvious so the cares act the treasury secretary has 500 billion of taxpayer money in loans and investments do you agree that special ig for Pandemic Response has a responsibility how all of those are distributed whether by treasury or the Federal Reserve . The special ig administered by the secretary of treasury people do that faithfully fairly and impartially and independently. Senator shelby. Thank you chairman. Welcome back to the committee. We spent a lot of time here working this very important number as the staff working on the appropriation staff and then went on to greater things and nominated to the very serious position. So to have that undergraduate degree the mba, youve got the experience. Im here to support you. Mr. Chairman i ask unanimous consent my written statement be made part of the record. Without objection. Wherever you go but especially over at hud, you carry a lot of experience and good judgment, and they can use you over there and you can serve the American People well. You have in the past and i predict you will in the future. I believe you will be confirmed. I believe i am here to say i support you without any reservation. Most members of the Committee Work with you and have respect for you. Godspeed we need to vote as soon as we can. Thank you. Thank you senator shelby. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. We will just wait a moment to be sure i can be heard. Want to follow up on the questions that senator brown presented because that is absolutely critical and those behaviors we have seen in the white house and also other areas suggest there is a disregard for the independence of the Inspector General and while you were there in the context of the impeachment proceedings, the general counsels office to completely dismiss from any cooperation by the congress. You yourself with the general counsel said it was not planned. But not critical of the white house where do you like to respond . I will be independent. I will follow the facts wherever they lead if they are critical to the administration. I will say so i have no hesitancy to do so. I thank you have unfairly characterized the letter. In many ways im just answering the mail. As Inspector General you wont just be answering the mail and thats the point we want to make very explicit. Let me turn to another issue entitled to the cares act title for that they have to acquire warrants under title for after some work that we did from 2008 when we did have warrants and afterthefact realize 10 million for the taxpayers of the United States and if confirmed what do we have for taxpayers . And that we dont write more so that maximum potential is not realized so can you give us . I will have to study that issue more carefully but as Inspector General to analyze all of the ramifications of these programs of someone is gaming the system are taking advantage of the system we would like to know that and report on that so we will analyze those very quickly and if necessary if i cant get it otherwise and with that extensive experience and to make that quite clear and the last several years to apply the 2020 budget 20 out the Community Block grant if we follow that advice where would that be toda today . Thank you for the question we have provided unprecedented support to the population as many have alluded to through the cares act assistance. It is incredibly important to focus and do everything that we can to keep the hud assisted homeowners and renters in their home to provide maximum flexibility and provide tools to stay in their home and enable fsa to mitigate risk this is the evolving situation to use whatever tools at our disposal to help borrowers or renters and i look forward to working with congress on those objectives. Just a final point, had we zeroed out those programs the situation we see today trying to stabilize housing for so many people would have been much worse. I hope that Going Forward not just other bills like the cares act but the budgets we will have strong funding. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. Thank you mr. Chairman thank you to our Witnesses Today and thanks for your willingness to serve i appreciate both of you bring a wealth of experience to your respective roles and i am pleased with the fact. Mr. Miller, first of all i appreciate our conversation earlier where we discussed your role should you be confirmed. But i would like to go back to the issue that several colleagues have questioned your willingness to be independent of the administration. It seems to me that there is some history here that may be is worth a little bit of elaboration but in a prior role you were the ig at the gsa under a Republican Administration i believe. You conducted what seems like a very thorough and ended up i supposed antagonistic in the sense there was wrongdoing and you pursued it. Can you tell us about that . I think a persons History Speaks louder than anything else. Thank you for the question. There were a number of instances i investigated individuals and companies and met with resistance at every turn. At one point i had to investigate the administrator herself the bush appointee as i was. We very aggressively investigated her and found she steered a contract to a friend at 20000 a month and it ended up in hearings. She ended up calling me a terrorist. I had just come off the Us Attorneys Office where i prosecuted terrorist. So she publicly called me a terrorist and wrote memorandums to administrators asking them to help her fight to the ig, me. And various members of Congress Called on the president to fire me. Later the president did ask for her resignation. There were a number of other incidents as well that came up that i had to investigate and it was very difficult to do so. I had to fight for the Office Effectiveness through maintaining independent hiring process there was a freeze on the ability to hire anyone, budget cuts come all sorts of ways to hinder the independence and effectiveness of the Inspector General. I worked through it all, i insisted on being independent and never compromising the facts for the truth and i made those reports public. Later i investigated a conference during the Bush Administration and Obama Administration a conference in las vegas and during that investigation we had political appointees asking me to stop that investigation and not published a report political appointee said why do you have to make this public . Just give it to us privately and never let anyone know . Of course i did not follow that advice. I was not moved by the pressure. I just reported the facts and you all know about it. But the agency itself is much better as a result and i think every program and operation is better as a result of oversight. After i left and tried to start a law practice the ig at department of justice for a wits had difficulty accessing information there was a hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee. Michael called me and talk to me about it and asked me to come testify, i did and im grateful for the chairman supporting my testimony at that hearing. One more last question. As one of the two senate designees to the congressional oversight commission, we might have some similar responsibilities. Could you just share with us your thoughts on the differences between our respective responsibilities of a commission versus the Inspector General . How that might be delineated . I know this is a work in progress but any thoughts on that . Thank you senator. I look forward, i hope we get to Work Together on that. I like to work cooperatively with the commission and Accountability Committee and with gao and the various igs themselves. Delineating that responsibility does not overlap. We dont want to waste precious federal resources we want to make sure we know what they are doing and to complement each other rather than work with each other so thats very important in that respect i dont want to presume the confirmation but to contact Michael Horowitz and the vice chair at the gao the new executive director to see how we can Work Together to delineate our roles were there may be differences because i dont think it serves anyone to duplicate efforts. It would be vital to share information and i would like to work then have the opportunity to work on Information Sharing Program on it so theres realtime access to information. I want to take a minute to reflect on the enormity of the situation before us. If we have learned anything from this crisis but how staying at home can flatten the curve to keep our families and safe and housing and healthcare. And then they should not be thrown out on the street that we could be facing a foreclosure crisis even greater than the one we faced during the Great Recession. All it takes is to marshal the resources of the federal government and we can make sure every american has a safe and healthy place to call home we saw during the Great Recession fha stepped into the market when the private lenders were unable or a living will unwilling to do so. Will you commit to making sure fha plays a cyclical role in the Mortgage Market for American Families now they may be less willing to do so . Yes. Thank you for commenting on the gravity of the situation and i believe that this is integral to provide countercyclical support is integral to the commission an incredibly important fha stay open for business and do everything that it can to promote market stability during this time. What specific actions are you looking at confirmed to take in the next six months . That is a great question and to maintain the fha operation into doing things that will allow consumers to access credit such as it modernization which is streamlining the process and other organizational goals to operate on a daily basis and to implement the cares act and future assistance packages to be incredibly important for fha and if confirmed i will do everything i can to expeditiously get any support to those who need it the most. Will be looking for that on the confirmation to you agree that most important quality for the Inspector General . Yes. If someone calls you to discuss the recovery word you take the call . If someone from the press . The president or someone from the white house would you take the call . I dont think i would receive such a call but it depends on what the call is about. I will not be pressured to perform an audit or investigation but its hard to say if i dont know what the call is about. As secretary many chin wants to say certain assistance under the cares act is an appropriate to take his call . I think its appropriate to know why he make such determinations. If he wants to explain it to himself, with think my office would like to listen if im in on that meeting or not is something i would have to decide but we want to know why they are administering programs in the way that they are. Its a difference when you are generating those questions than when they try to weigh in with those ways that may or may not be in the context. You are in the White House Counsel Office when the president decided to terminate attorney general atkinson . Yes. Did you play a role of that decision. I cannot talk about the White House Counsels Office. I did not say what role. I read about the firing of mr. Atkinson in the newspaper. That doesnt answer my question. President trump said he is a total disgrace. Do you agree with that statement . Senator theres a number of reasons why i dont want to get involved in that question. First of all i dont know all the facts. I dont know the thinking. Second, that is protected by white house confidentiality. As a lawyer i have the obligation. When Justice Kagan was before the senate for confirmation she limited her comments on the White House Counsel Office and the clinton domestic out one policy counsel. I did not specifically about any confidentiality when i asked the question the way the president talked about atkinson and the independence avenue Inspector General is important so judge how you view those independently if you participated or not is very telling. Thank you. I would like to begin with ms. Miller. Earlier with testimony you did not have an opportunity to respond there was the inappropriate activity. Will you like to take an opportunity to respond or share your activities of that the Ranking Member suggested was inappropriate activity . Thank you. I apologize that was for ms. Wade. I appreciate the opportunity to respond. First of all housing discrimination is intolerable and if confirmed i will do everything i can to enforce the fair housing laws. That is my commitment. In addition related to my role at omb i lead a Resource Management organization. To that end it was my job that taxpayer money was spent efficiently and economically with the oversight role of the government. Im proud of the work that i did so thank you for that opportunity to respond. Mr. Miller i appreciate your conversation with me earlier. I wish it was in person but weve been doing these longdistance. I think its important not only are you in a position of a criminal nature but to make sure they run as efficiently as possible that congress set out in the first place. Part of that is immediate feedback members of congress get that and senator menendez was talking about if you take a phone call from the white house do you take it from a member of the senate is looking at ways to make things better or if certain parts were offered the way they were supposed to . Do take that phone call from a member of the senate what do you do to make it so we can participate in oversight activities . This is such an Important Program it so important it gets to the right people we should be willing how we can improve that in real time. Congress has an opportunity to clarify how this is done. If things are not working well in a particular area that they should change it so it can work better. Where it is working and not working in real time is vital. In that respect i would welcome a call from a senator and it does make sense to talk to the secretary as well with other treasury officials whats working, whats not we can see we cannot make this program work and that can be part of my report to the congress. Earlier we discussed there are ways that members of the house of the senate so is there a way to establish so that when members of this committee or other Committee Members want to get in touch it is seamless in nature that we get information and recognizing the fact we are contacting and responding back is that to make it easy for information to be passed down to your team . I do believe its vital to share information. I can see my office performing the function of a clearinghouse to perform the function of the clearinghouse. So much of what we have to do relying on Data Analytics and it systems. I can see the benefits of having a system to hear from congress and real time as well to perform a clearinghouse function. We know the information thats coming in is getting to the right places right places. Somewhere between 50 to 100 more like 75 to 100. Thanks. This is the biggest package anybody has voted on i think in this committee. Would you commit to report to the treasury hasnt followed the transparency requirements that require them to disclose . To pursue the investigations and reviews i well and as i said it requires they report Serious Problems to congress and i will also report of the members of congress exuded that pressure. In the statement for the act president of trump argued they have control over the reports and they cannot report to Congress Without permission. How do you interpret the president ial supervision described in the statement accompanying the act . I am trying to avoid stepping in between the battles of the executive branch and the legislative branch. I will follow the law both section four of the act that requires me to report the problems. Wwill only report that to congress but they will tell us the president tried to stop you from avoiding it . If the president himself does not i would think that would be a serious issue. If the president does it or has one of his minions with direct connection to give information to us. This is from my perspective ive perspectivestonewalled every step of the way to get information from the administration where the money is going. Every single step of the way. So, your position is critically important if we are going to have any oversight. Did your White House Service have any involvement. My ability to respond to questions about what goes on in the White House Counsel Office or the white house may be limited by my ethical obligations that bind all lawyers and i will follow the example of limiting comments about her service in the white House Counsel. If we were in its different situation, first of all this is 2. 2 trillion of taxpayer money and second, ive watched. On the impeachment, it didnt happen and i watched you remove the one fine. The question is you worked as the white House Counsel and the practice i have no doubt hes going to remove you because hes done it time and time again. The question is were you aware of the situation and did you have any input . I will be independent if the president removes me he will remove me and if i am unable to do my job i will reside. But i will do my job faithfully and independently not on the white House Counsel operations with the justice and many others that have come from the White House Counsels Office and have gone to the appointed positions as judges and other positions. Senator kennedy. You were appointed Inspector General of the gsa to 2005, isnt that right quest to become . And who appointed you . I served nearly ten years for much of the Obama Administration. You said you had to investigate the administrator what are the conclusions of your investigation of the Administrator Appointed by president bush . A contract to a friend in violation of the procurement law and also made a referral of the violation to the special counsel to the conclusion that he did violate the act. And you wrote a report on that . To the special counsel report on the violation. Was the administrator happy for the report . Did anybody criticize you for writing that report . Give me some examples. Certainly other people in the Administration Still criticize me for that. And the Bush Administration. Did you change your report . Did you change your conclusion . I stood firm. Does that make you feel comfortable, was it a pleasant experience . You have to do the right thing and be comfortable with your own conscience and it doesnt matter what anybody else thinks. So you were appointed by president bush to the administrator was appointed by president bush. You as the Inspector General investigated and the white house didnt like that. Some people in congress didnt like that but you couldnt send your report. Not at all. I looked for your background, mr. Miller. I looked you up on the internet, ive read your resume, ive heard all of the allegations, made the allegations is too strong of a word. The innuendo and suggestions that you would be a puppet of the president. I dont understand the basis of that. I have looked everywhere. Is there any place in your background as an assistant u. S. Attorney or Inspector General for a decade at gsa where you back down because youve been told to back down . No, sir. Did you ever back off of the case because somebody with political influence told you to . Is there anything that would indicate you are willing to sacrifice your principles of somebody and political power if they tell you to . One of the letters is from my special agents when i was the Inspector General that talks about how i let them continue an investigation when ther whereine some people in the office to talk it should be shut down and obviously they prove the case and got a conviction. Thank you. I dont have any questions. Q. Does a great job. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Senator warren. Senator elizabeth warren. Are either senator warner or senator warren lysol senator warren. Senator warren is trying to get her microphone to work. Apparently we are having some trouble, so we will come back to senator warren and we will move at this moment to senator van hollen. I want to congress you laid both the witnesses on your nominations. I will be submitting some questions for the record with respect to your nomination. As the Inspector General as many have pointed out that requires independence and also requires the determination to conduct rigorous investigations to get to the truth, to get to the facts that uncover any wrongdoing so i want to ask about the role in responding to the investigation conducted by the Nonpartisan Government Accountability Office for the Security Assistance to ukraine. I asked the gao to conduct the inquiry and they ultimately concluded the administration withholding Security Assistance was illegal under the empowerment control act. Gao also raised majothe gao alsr concerns about the executive branch stonewalling in very, saying in the report that the blocking of the investigation rose to the level and, quote, it is a constitutional significan significance. View participated in that as the white house lawyer assigned a letter that we would not provide a substantive reply. Just answering the mail, yet you were nominated and confirmed as the Inspector General here and you wrote to an agency with information about one of the issues they were investigating and they refused to respond. Would that be acceptable to you . No, sir. I was answering the mail and wanted to make sure that they have received an answer. I respect the gao and wanted to make sure the inquiries were responded to so i stepped in and made sure that they got the response and that the council responded to the questions. I have the letter you cited 2019 responding to the general counsel of the gao. The white house doesnt plan to respond separately twodoor letters and can you tell us the white house didnt have information that was responsive to the gao inquiry . I cant talk about confidentiality, secondly i am familiar with the fact that general counsel responded to the questions of gao and instead of having separate responses from the chief of staff and white House Counsel to said pallone. Could you respond to that particular issue. Right, but the letter was seeking documents and other factual information, so is it your testimony today under oath that the omb letter and their response met all the requirements you would consider necessary to be truthful and honest in their response . I am simply saying i sent a letter to make sure the gao had the response of the appropriate officials in the white house. Regarding the general counsels letter and asking whether your testimony didnt have any Additional Information that was responsive to the gao inquiry as i understand your statement today, you either dont know or wont say. Is that correct . Server, it is probably both. I think that this is an example of no good deed goes unpunished. I have respect for the gao and i wanted to make sure the letter was responded to, and the later did get responded to and if they could stop the inquiries and they had an answer to their inquiry. With all due respect you said it was great that you responded so my final question is if you are confirmed to this position and Inspector General to view the response that you go you goe white house that he signed a, but you find that stonewalling acceptable . I would like to continue. Briefly, please. As far as the letter goes, the general counsel of the office of budget was answering a budget question and i was simply pointing out what they have for the respond. And i am not really sure what your question is getting at. I thank you. It wasnt just asking for that response. The reason they also wrote to the white house is to get any documents and relevant information that the white house may have had with respect to their inquiry. You essentially give them a non responsive to talk to the other agency. My question would be acceptable tthat beacceptable to you condue investigation . I have to conclude from your answers that it would be. We are going to go back now to see if senator warren is available. Senator warren . Thank you. We are in the middle of a public pandemic crisis that has already killed more than 60,000 people and this is also in economic crisis. It created a 500 billion slush fund for china corporations and is confident with the special Inspector General, it will be mr. Millers job to conduct the oversight and make sure the workers and families. So mr. Miller, lets start with the basics. Under the act to investigate the response and distributed by the taxpayer backed Federal Reserve and what do companies do with the grant, is that correct . I will follow the law and make sure that we do an investigation on those programs. This is an easy question. Can we just do yes, thats right . Can you repeat the question, please . Im just citing what the law says. I will follow the law. And it gives you the same authority as all in doctors general under the Inspector Generals act to conduct investigations for the purpose of the efficiency or preventing and detecting the fraud and abuse in the government. Is that right . That is perfect. So they give you the authority and the tools to investigate people that are handing out the money. So now i just want to ask how you plan to use your authority. I dont ask about how they will investigate. For example, if a giant corporation gets a bailout financed by tax payers dollars and then lays off board for low as botha pinch of workers i thit we agree this would constitute a potential waste or abuse of the funds. Would you investigate such a case . Im not going to answer hypotheticals, but i will tell you i would investigate any misuse of the monies. [inaudible] thats how we evaluate looking out for taxpayer funds. You said yesterday when you and i spoke privately that you thought that would constitute a bailout fund and i just want to know if that is the case, would you investigate . For the giant corporation to get a bailout financed and then lays off a bunch of workers and at least a potential abuse to investigate and find out more. Yes, senator. Another if they get the bailout financed by taxpayers is that a potential situation for fraud or abuse if you were to investigate . Im not comfortable answering hypotheticals. The purpose of im just asking in general is that the kind of thing . You are saying an investigation is appropriate and yesterday you said it was and i just want to know while you are under oath. I want to be careful about hypotheticals. Certain situations where companies are spending the money for profits and laying off workers it seems to be a situation that i would want to investigate. Good. And how about when companies are lobbying. You said you would want to look at those. How about not, is something you would want to invest . Again, senator, i am not comfortable with the whole yesterday intact when i asked about the white house i you said you wanted to include that as well. I dont understand why they wont state it in public right now. Senator, im going to investigate any area that i think is an abuse im trying to ask do you think lobbying and getting money as a potential for abuse that he would investigate. Its possible, senator. Said if it is possible, would you investigate . I would investigate it if it were lobbying congress or the white house. Thats all i want. And then, even if the Treasury Department doesnt put any restrictions or asks for information about how the money will be used or strict corporate lobbying, what you requested information from the companies that received under this program . I will investigate all potential conflicts of interest. And if i dont have the information through the Health Department of treasury, i was requested them to subpoena the information if i dont get it. And would make that information public to see what is going on . Scenic my goal is to make all information public and inform the taxpayers. The only possible exception of a senator, would be if it is part of a criminal referral to the department of justice. Good. I am glad to hear that because transparency is important. I think that the act should have ironclad rules on company is getting a bailout. Now the primary tools that we have to stop corporations from using the bailout to enrich themselves as rigorous oversight. Your time is [inaudible] of one of the largest corporate bailouts in american history. It will be particularly intense because this president has already fired multiple inspectors general, and because he couldnt tolerate any criticism, and you will however have the chance to defend your independence and integrity by your actions if you stick to the commitments that you have made here and you are an aggressive watchdog. And i am prepared to work with you. Thank you. I would like to work with you even if you dont vote for my confirmation as you indicated yesterday. We will now move to senator tellis. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for being there. I regret that its under these difficult circumstances. Mr. Miller, in response to some of senator toomeys questions were senator kennedys questions, on the one hand we have people questioning your independence under the weight and pressure of an administration, but you investigate it to someone who is appointed by president bush, you yourself were appointed by president bush. That investigation didnt change one bit regardless of the pressure that you got on capitol hill and others. What is the ultimate disposition of the person . She was asked to resign, senator. Earlier Ranking Member brown characterized one of the writings as something that seemed to question your commitment and the response you said was a mischaracterization of what you wrote. Would you mind going back to that very briefly . My concern was inspectors generals are independent of both of the executive branch and the congressional branch. My concern with the article is they need to understand that they are also independent of undue pressure from the congress. And that is the just of the article. In fact i said in the article but it is fundamental for an Inspector General to be and independent. You investigated someone who was put forth by president bush. You were put forth by president bush and continued in spite of the pressure that you were getting at capitol hill and others do not change one word of the report and it ultimately resulted in the removal of the person from the position. That sounds like a pretty good case history but i guess others may have a different view. Operationally, did you think that the tide here perco is going to be sufficient time . Im going to do my time to work myself out of a job. I believe that we need effective oversight. I do know that there are a lot of oversight instruments in organizations that will be providing oversight. If we can do this within five years, i would like to do that. But its too early to tell whether it is the right amount of time. I have confidence that you will go about this and hold anybody accountable that tries to carry you off of what is right. Is there such a thing as good fraud and bad fraud . I would think that any fraud is bad. I appreciate the time you spent on the phone with me yesterday. And i asked you if they were committed to taking a look at all the benefactors of the program has come under the act. You looked through the simple lens of why the taxpayer dollars that were sent out in good faith to help us recover during this virus response inappropriately allocated because of fraud. I want you to go after the big businesses, Small Businesses and everybody in between that they have taken advantage of this program. I hope that we will not have members on the other side of the aisle that will come up with a concept of good fraud and justice because in my opinion, fraud is fraud so i look forward to support her nomination. We have had some time to digest the act and other things we need to do to adjust it in the tape to debate the paycheck protection program. Is there anything we should be thinking about moving forward as we make may be changing deadlines, can you think of anything else that would be within the firm . Yes, senator that is a great question. You eluded to the act that already provided tremendous support to help the market and the borrowers. First of all as you know it is provided up to a year of forbearance and it provided a foreclosure moratorium. This is an evolving situation and one that we are continuing to monitor on a daytoday basis and in realtime and datadriven approach to provide any assistance and flexibility, but i think that what should we think of as the next phase could always appreciate assistance in providing flexibility across the offices in order to get any other assistance congress is considering as quickly as possible. So, i would be happy to work with you on that objective. And i can think of the other things we are going to have to take a look at. So i look forward to getting your input. Congratulations and happy birthday to your little girl tomorrow. Thank you. Next is senator warner. The questions asked ive been in the Intelligence Committee the last couple of hours. I want to start with mr. Miller on the subject. Some of my colleagues may have asked the question but since this is some thing i was intimately involved in, and i hope i dont look as you load to the rest of my colleagues as i do on the screen. This isnt a case of full on john this yet. [laughter] this looks pretty awful. But you know, having been pretty familiar with Michael Atkinson and his actions in regards to trying to protect the whistleblowers and the president s engagement with the ukrainian president , and you having been involved as an ig in the white House Counsel, based on any personal knowledge that you may have, or anything that you have seen in the record, is there any indication to you that he wasnt performing his duties appropriately as the Inspector General for the committee . Senator, mr. Atkinson was in an ig position but it was a specialized ig physician and its governed by the statute governing national intelligence. I am just not familiar with the fact or the law on the situation, so im reluctant to give an opinion where i dont have all the facts. There was nothing that for a decade they were in the white House Counsel. Was there anything even based on secondary, secondhand knowledge that was any kind of evidence Michael Atkinson was not performing his duties for the ig . Senator, i dont have all the facts. Unfortunately mr. Atkinson was fired for doing his job and regardless of the president legal authority, what kind of effect does the president even with legal authority, what kind of effect does it have on the Inspector General committee if the president is simply firing people because the results of their activities lead to substantive results he doesnt like where obviously in the case of the whistleblowers complained and in the case of ukraine or the more recent dismissal of the Inspector Generals over at hhs in terms of doing their work what kind of effect does this have . My experience is that always faces thitalways faces the possy that they may be fired. They may be fired for whatever reason as long as the president gives them in writing so you just have to do your job and what the consequenceletthe consy may be but you should never be afraid of stating the truth and if you have to be fired, you are fired. But you always have to be prepared at least to walk away from your job. That goes with the territory of being in Inspector General. So you have no concerns from the standpoint of the Inspector General community and they would be taking on the position that it appears the president doesnt like igs and doesnt like oversight is generally number three we are talking about an area where theres a huge distribution of funds. It seems to me that this record based upon the substantive results of the work differing from the president s positions would be something that would cause consternation. I see that my time is about up but i would like to also set some questions for the record in terms of how we are going to deal with these issues Going Forward and the possible need of a liquidity. I think the fed is interested to make sure we dont have a major disruption in the Housing Market. Thank you for my time. You will be able to submit questions at the end. But these will be may 7. I will repeat that at the end of the hearing. Senator kaufman has also given me a letter he was at that intelligence hearing as well and has been unable to get to the hearing and he also looks forward to set knitting questions and also wants a conversation with you in person. You can expect to have that conversation. The next is senator cortez mas masco. Good afternoon everyone. I want to congratulate both of you and your nomination. When i talk to you on the phone, as you know, in nevada we were saluted by the financial crisis that during the time i saw peoples homes taken, they took them into foreclosure and there was a forging of documents. September of 2017, the office of Inspector General issued a report entitled they didnt have adequate control to ensure servicers properly engaged in lost medication. Now fast forward to where we are today. Last week the office of the Inspector General published another report on the review of 30 fha service or website and the report Found Service and website provided incomplete, inconsistent data and guidance related to the forbearance option under the secure act. Servicers should not be providing this type of misinformation and misconduct by worked so hard, many of us did, too correct and prevent and we are seeinit weare seeing it aga. My question to you, how would you ensure that they provide clear guidance to homeowners and the type of conduct on occurring during this crisis . I appreciate the question. This is a very important issue to me and i want to start by saying first of all, fraud at any level should never be tolerated and i think we learned a lot following the financial crisis. To your point specifically, about ensuring that servicers are communicating the right policies to home owners, that is also a priority. Again, this can be a confusing time and uncertain time and if confirmed, i would do whatever i can to ensure there is as much clarity as possible. In particular, i know currently they are working with the cfp b. To provide a source of information to borrowers. This is something we have to monitor and we want to make sure the programs are working as they are defined. You mentioned your required to provide forbearance as well as lost medication if they are required to follow certain policies of the fha. Again, if confirmed this is something i planned to take a look at and keep a close eye on. Ii am already hearing anecdotally some stories about what the servicers are telling them some with me ask you this. Are you also willing to take a look at the oversight of the servicers by inappropriate reviews of companies and talking with borrowers. That is the only way we will stop the conduct by servicers. Senator, i will take a look at any data that is presented to me as you know, they had a lot of enforcement fools available. I believe in strong and clear enforcement. Its another important objecti objective. I dont mean to cut you off by only have so much time. You should be able to access this information and that is what im looking for. Im hopeful that we can assure we are addressing the issue and i think we all know i will start with that. We need to make sure that we are accessing the information. I hope that we are able to do so. Let me address mr. Miller. Theres no doubt in my mind we are very impressed by your background and resume and you can tell from all the conversation my colleagues are asking you is if you illustration but its not that this president isnt saying this overtly. I will be the oversight. Hes very clear about it. Let me ask you if the white house or agency asks you to withhold information, would you notify the congress immediately of this request . If they allow preference to state for political gain, would you consider that a violation and report it immediately to congress lacks i didnt hear all of your question. Im sorry. If the white house wanted the treasury to show preference for the states and political gain. Prior to allocating the financing would you consider that a violation and report it immediately . It does sound like it could be. Did you plan to gain a president ial approval before investigating the contract or communicating with congress lacks no, senator. Most of the questions have been asked if this is such an important issue. During rightbrace so many there are still too many suffering and we are looking for people to stand up and do the right thing. So, i appreciate your willingness to work on this administration with everything that is going on, but we are going to hold you accountable. At the end of the day i am hopeful that i can work with both of you that we are going to ask the tough question and i am not going to let up. Its too important that we address what is happening across the country. So thank you again. Thank you. Senator jones. Thank you mr. Chairman. I hope everybody can hear me. Thank you for the phone all the other day. I want to ask some questions that require an answer of an honesty will one to ten with zero being no respect and ten being unshakable respect, how would you rate president bushs respect for the independence of the Inspector Generals . Senators, i am not comfortable evaluating the president s performance, whether it is past president s or the current president. You acknowledge this president has a few that is so far less than president bush or president obama even though theyve let it go. Can you at least acknowledge because you told me the other day that it would be a challenge working for President Trump. Can you at least acknowledge that. This is going to be a demanding position. There is no question about that and i will go with the fact is the president and the administration dont like. I will say t see them anyway. I appreciate that, by key. So when chandler, you have create records and experiences. I served with you but ive heard so much about this when the fact is this president is harder to challenge and i think everybody recognizes that and i would hope to see some acknowledgment of that from you, a little bit more than we have today because thats really kind of shows the independence. You did mention the night there with the occasions where you would either resign or walk away. Are there other ways to push back on a president that is trying to influence the independence of an Inspector General than just walking away from the job in frustration . I will do my job as the Inspector General and sometimes that involves working with Administration Officials to come them that they should change the program or allows you to get information. Thats part of leadership and experience, both of which i have and i would like to use as the general to avoid these conflicts. Its been more than one time that i had to investigate and make an adverse report and face tough criticism not just with the one administrator that was removed, but with major contractors and even political appointees in both administrations. In any of those administrations did you work on the white House Counsel for those administrations . Did i work as a lawyer . Were you in the counsel for the administration and then become an inspectobecoming inspe you are leaving too now . I have not, but president obama since my conversation yesterday i went back and refreshed my recollection. But he appointed to the Supreme Court and shed been in a political position in his administration in the white house. I appreciate that. I was hoping to get a little bit more from you but its okay. I know about her history. I was just trying to help out a little bit and establish when you said youre going to be independent its harder than any other Inspector General, but my time is running out. Id appreciate your being here and being willing to serve. I really do and i hope that they wilyouwill be as tough and indet as you say that to some extent your history says. I would like to get a question over to ms. Wade. I was disappointed not to sue your boss wearing his university of alabama mask. I thought that it would be good for the committee this morning. But, i would like to ask about the proposed rule for the disparate impact that theyve now published, and im very concerned about the rule and how it is going to in my view make it almost impossible to bring this commission complaints. Are you familiar with that whole entity you have an opinion about it . Senator, i appreciate the question, and i understand secretary carson had already addressed this. Its my understanding that the intent of the role is to codify the 2015 Supreme Court decision. However, this is not a rule that would be undermine under my dirw as the commissioner. Okay. I still dont think secretary carson interested. I think that he gave an answer, but i certainly cant agree that he addressed it and its consistent. That its consistent. But be that as it may, i will leave from their and i may have some questions for both of these. Thank you mr. Chairman and thank you everybody for participating. Thank you. Senator smith. Thank you, mr. Chairman and Ranking Member brown and thank you to both mr. Miller and mrs. Wade for being able to attend and mr. Miller for the conversation yesterday. I want to try to get a sense of how you see the authority of the special iag and so here is one example. Ive heard from a lot of problems getting the payment most americans were supposed to receive. Minnesotans are calling my office as saying that came and went to the phone bank or a bank account that doesnt exist or people are getting payments based on their 2018 Tax Information even though they filed the 19 return. Some payments were going to dead people. Folks dont know how to return them and this strikes me in the kindest way that is mismanagement that an Inspector General should be looking into. But when ive asked about these problems, but theyve told us is that the constituents should just wait until next year when they filed their return into these issues could be resolved by then but these are folks that are needing that money to pay rent or they could get evicted. My question is if you are confirmed and they would charge you with examining the management can you believe that he would have jurisdiction over looking at how these payments have been made . If it gives me the authority to review how the secretary is administering the programs, certainly i would look about and certainly in the situation that you described, i certainly would be working with the Small Business administration ig and with the socalled Accountability Committee of ig in making sure that they are examining how these programs are being administered and how these payments are being distracte mi. But they do believe that it does give you the authority . It gives me authority under title for the act and certainly the authority to work with the ig individually. One of the lessons that ive learned is to inform task force is to obtain authority and jurisdiction and areas that need to be explored. So, certainly i would try to obtain authority or if necessary to look into those matters, and if i didnt have that authority, i would try to make sure that the iag that has authority is actively and aggressively going after that. My view is that you would wod have the authority and this is the kind of mismanagement we need to look at. But let me ask you another one. Theres been a worry about how the direct recovery is marketing to people experiencing homelessness and so i wrote a letter to the secretary about this asking for Treasury Departmenthe treasurydepartmente sure folks that experience with homelessness can access their payments and i havent heard back. Meanwhile, the irs published some material challenging people that they can sign up online but clearly that isnt going to work. As the special Inspector General to be sure all americans can get access to these payments. Certainly i would like the act to get the money to the people its intended to have the money. Certainly this money is necessary to help average americans during this time and Small Businesses that are being depleted during this time to replace that they would have otherwise gotten. Its like honestly so many of my colleagues are so concerned about this and when he signed the act, the president said by the way, i can say whether or not the Inspector General shares this information with congress and thats why we included this language in the bill, because we wanted to make sure that that it happened. So, this is i think wh white pee are feeling so concerned. We talked about this yesterday. I appreciate you coming and getting on the phone with me and talking about it. I have to say i remain concerned about this. I also just want to say one last thing before we wrap this up. This is focused on for the act is extremely important to me. It has to do with getting the 8 billion in tribal recovery relief to americas tribal governments, including minnesota tribes who are suffering greatly right now. The Navajo Nation in new mexico is another example of one of the worst hotspots in the entire country, and yet we are still waiting for the Treasury Department to release the 8 billion that was appropriated and authorized by congress and the act. In the act. And i just want to draw attention to this. This is unacceptable the Treasury Department had said something today about how they might get it out. The deadline for this was apri april 25. Tribal governments are dealing with a catastrophic loss of revenue. Mr. Miller, these are the kind of challenges that you will have to cope with and holding the Administration Accountable when it isnt doing what the law requires it to do and its why we need such a strong Inspector General so thank you for your willingness. I have a couple of questions for the record and im grateful for your willingness to serve as well. Thank you mr. Chair. Thank you. Senator brown, the Ranking Member, will have the final question. Senator brown. Thank you for all of you this was an unmitigated success during the hearing this way. Theres probably a lot of skeptics on the hill about whether you could pull it off so thank you to greg and lauren and the three storms to put this together. And mike, thank you for giving thidoingthis also. I want to just go for the moment with senator smith just said about the tribal governments. I was on a cold this morning with a number of action agencies. Whats happened with the Health Disparities in the country, somebody said to me not in this meeting that an earlier Conference Call in the week that the pandemic is the great revealer and so much of what has happened in terms of infant mortality, Life Expectancy is so glaring. Im hoping that you as Public Servants you will pay special attention to what senator smith said and all of us on these issues. Many members of this body describe as ranging from problematic to contrary to the purpose of the law including fair housing, you said you would enforce vigorously the Fair Housing Act but when most of the purchase again housing advocate faith leaders think what you did there is compromising that, that is concerning, these rules would undoubtedly be devastating to millions of people especially people of color, especially low and moderate income people, my question is this, how do we square your work at omb when the comment that you made today that you now plan to help somebody of the same people. I appreciate the question and i can only assure you and promise into impersonation for housing laws and i find housing disco nation completely and acceptable, hud spends a lot of time investigating after housing complaints, has an entire office that is dedicated to investigating the nations fair housing laws. If confirmed i will do whatever i can to support those efforts. I appreciate that, i take you at your word and i also know im a bit cautious about not believing you been thinking you will do this because the owen b you essentially do the opposite at least according to people that i trust on these issues including civil rights and housing advocates and they think this is in fact sending more in concrete the kind of discrimination from jim crow redlining to what we have now. But thank you and good luck to through this process. A followup on an earlier question, you said youd use your authority to oversee the secretary of treasury, this is my mistake in the hearing because i shouldve followed up but you did not say anything about the Federal Reserve, the treasury authorized to give hundreds of billions in the Federal Reserve will lend trillions of dollars to businesses, do you believe the law created a special id that you been nominated for gives you the authority to oversee the feds ending facilities and the companies who receive loans under these facilities, you said treasury, dooming also that you have the authority to oversee the feds lending facilities . Very good question senator, at this point in time looking at the act is clear that i have jurisdiction over the actions of the secretary of the treasury and right now i consider every dollar that goes from treasury through the Federal Reserve to also give me jurisdiction over the Federal Reserve. If im fortunate enough to be confirmed and analyzed the income up with a different view, a may be knocking on your door to get more explicit authority. I appreciate that and thats exactly what we wanted to hear and its essential, it is trillions of dollars are due no, will last final thing and thank you for your forbearance, you been evasive on questions about your work in the white house were senator after senator ask you what matters you were involved in not so we can understand your background, not just specifics of what you did, im not a lawyer but i understand attorneyclient privilege and i understand those issues working in the highest of government, but they were not asking you specifics again of what you did, they were asking you so we understand who you are better, what matters you were involved in, no one wants you to violate privilege, this is a Job Interview in your background is important to evaluate how you will do your job, you unfortunately did not give us the information in this hearing. Mr. Chairman thank you again for the first of the kind hearing. Thank you. Thank you very much senator brown, that does conclude the questioning, again i appreciate both you mr. Miller and mrs. Wade for taking the time in coming here and presenting yourselves in these unique new circumstances. Mr. Chairman can i say one more thing. Sure. I appreciated the witnesses and the chairman Wearing Masks when they were there. All of the people that call them from their offices dont need masks but i know how strongly governor feels about that in my state. So thank you for that. Thank you. I also want to extend in addition to greg and lauren cameron, extender thanks to the Recording Studio in the rules committee whose work so closely with us, there was so much work that went on behindthescenes to make this come together and as senator brown has indicated, i think it is a success in terms of the technological ability to put this hearing on in these difficult circumstances and do it in a successful way, we also want to extend our thanks to all the workers who prepared and clean this room, those that have our Law Enforcement officials and all of the others who have come to make sure that we can operate and do our jobs in the United States Senate Banking committee. As i said, that does conclude the question in todays hearing, for senators who want to submit questions for the record, those questions are due to the committee by next thursday ma may 7, we ask that both of you, the nominees respond to these questions by 9 00 a. M. Monday morning may 11. Again we thank you for being here in this hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]
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