U.S. Senator Katie Britt Highlights Increased Capital Investment, Urges Tailoring Framework Modernization During Banking Committee Hearing with Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) questioned Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at a Senate Banking Committee hearing where he delivered the Fed’s Semiannual Monetary Policy Report. She discussed the promising increase in business investment seen in Alabama and around the country, as well as the need for the Federal Reserve to prioritize updating key tailoring frameworks to provide for regulatory certainty. In her first line of questioning, Senator Britt discussed how increased capital investment across Alabama and the country is encouraging for long-term economic growth and greater American competitiveness: “In this year’s Monetary Policy Report, one of the most encouraging themes is the increase in business investment that we’re seeing across the country. In Alabama and many places, we’re seeing companies expand, manufacturers grow, and communities are benefiting from that investment. I believe that these are good signs and that they’re also important for the future, because they help us determine whether America remains the most competitive economy in the world. My question for you is as you look at the economy, what data tells you that today’s investments are laying the groundwork and the foundation for a stronger long-term growth and greater American competitiveness?” Chair Warsh responded, expressing optimism about the capital investment boom and resulting GDP growth: “This is what most countries are searching for. This is the seed core of the next group of job creation and productivity …. The trend is our friend here, and this business capital investment is contributing massively to the GDP we’ve seen in the last 12 months. My colleagues know I’m not big for forward guidance, but I would guess that that trend continues. What gives me optimism about it? Well, when the private sector deploys this amount of capital, they must see something shiny at the other end of that rainbow. They must see a very good return on investment. That’s why they’re taking this capital and they’re putting it to work…” The Senator then shifted to highlighting the need to modernize outdated regulatory thresholds that have not kept pace with the growth of our economy and banking system: “Some banks are already approaching and crossing into new tailoring categories, and they’re making staffing and compliance and long-term business decisions based on thresholds that haven’t been updated since 2019 … [H]ow are you thinking about updating these tailoring frameworks when it comes to what banks can expect to see in proposals in the future?” Chair Warsh began by saying, “Vice Chair (Miki) Bowman has been working on these initiatives … [M]odernizing our banking systems, streamlining regulations so that the rules that apply to the systemically important financial institutions are not one-size-fits-all for every other. The secret to the American economy is we have a few thousand banks and other providers of credit who know their smaller markets bigger. I’d rather have that system than what most of our G20 peers have, where they have half a dozen institutions implicitly backed by their government.” He continued, agreeing with Senator Britt, saying, “I think reform is coming to supervision and regulation … I think the sooner we can get to the bottom of it, the better … [T]he reforms we’ve been putting in place over the last 15 years coming out of Dodd-Frank—as we learned in the Silicon Valley Bank example and the First Republic example—they didn’t work perfectly. My predecessors had very little choice but then to do another overall bailout—we don’t want that to happen again. So, we want to tailor the rules and the capital so they serve the best interests of the U.S. economy, which I describe as a system that is safe, sound, and competitive.” Senator Britt responded, saying, “I just hope, given what you’ve said, we double down on reviewing the framework. We know how important tailoring is and also just the need for regulatory certainty, so thank you for that.” She concluded by thanking Chair Warsh for his commitment to serving the at Federal Reserve: “[I] just want to say thank you for your commitment in the first seven weeks … to performance, to accountability, to responsibility, and to integrity. (I) appreciate what you’re doing and look forward to continuing to work with you.” You can watch the Senator’s full remarks here . ###