During Thursday's Senate Banking Committee hearing, Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) advocated for back pay for the workers who were fired and later reinstated by the Trump administration.
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00:00and go to Senator Alsell Brooks. Thank you so much, Chair Scott, Ranking Member Warren.
00:06Thank you for hosting today's hearing, and I want to say congratulations to all of the nominees,
00:11and thank you also for your willingness to serve. I have a few quick questions. First,
00:16for Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wohl. As Deputy Secretary and General Counsel of HUD, respectively,
00:22you will oversee the day-to-day management of an organization responsible for
00:26lowering housing costs, and so I want to understand how you will treat the federal workers
00:32who will be responsible for carrying out this work, many of whom you know are my constituents.
00:38So as a judge ruled in late March that the administration broke the law by firing
00:43probationary workers from many agencies, and following this ruling, a federal judge in Maryland
00:48issued a ruling requiring affected employees to be reinstated at several agencies, including HUD,
00:56on March 17th, HUD reinstated over 300 fired probationary employees. They told them that
01:02they would be reinstated, but that they should cancel all of their unemployment claims because
01:07they would receive back pay and benefits. However, on March 24th, these same employees received a
01:14second email from HUD stating that HUD would not provide employees with back pay for the time that
01:21they were illegally out of work. HUD also denied their continuation of traditional health insurance
01:26coverage. So Mr. Hughes and Mr. Wohl, I don't have to tell you how wrong this is. I sent a letter along
01:33with Senator Van Hollen, Warner, and Kane to Secretary Turner asking why the department is refusing
01:38to provide rehired probationary workers with back pay. So will you both commit, pursuant to the law,
01:45and in concert with the law to immediately provide back pay to restore as well health benefits according
01:51to the law to all recently reinstated HUD employees? Thank you for the question, Senator. I look forward
01:59to discussing that issue with you, and it's my understanding that that's currently under litigation,
02:04so I can't comment on that, but I would like to discuss with you at the appropriate time
02:08and have a deeper conversation on that issue. It's not under litigation. The judge,
02:12the court already ruled that these workers were entitled to back pay, and what we know is that the,
02:19as we've seen very often with this administration, they are not complying with the law. The order said
02:24that they had to be reinstated and be given back pay. Senator, it's my understanding that it still
02:29is ongoing, but I can tell you one thing that we will absolutely follow the law. I can promise you that.
02:34Mr. Wohl? Senator, as you know, if I were to be confirmed as general counsel,
02:40my counsel to HUD would always be to follow the law and the Constitution. To the extent that
02:47employees are owed any back pay, any benefits, we will absolutely make sure that we're in compliance
02:52with all applicable federal laws that protect employees. Okay, and so you would reinstate
02:57those, that back pay, when you, if you were to learn, and I'm sure you will, that they have been
03:03denied that back pay. Senator, if I've learned that we have done something that is inconsistent
03:09with the law, we will take appropriate action to become compliant with the law, and we will always
03:16follow court orders. Thank you. Okay, just a couple of other quick questions to Ms. Bowman. I wanted
03:22to just ask you also, this current administration has been aggressively downsizing. The workforces of the
03:28federal financial regulatory agencies and the Doge guys have directed other regulatory agencies,
03:34including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as well as the Office of the Comptroller of the
03:39Currency, to cut its bank examination staff. And I'm sure with your experience, you know that this
03:46could reduce scrutiny over our banking system. So the question is, do you agree that downsizing
03:50supervisory staff at the Fed and other regulatory agencies could threaten the safety and soundness
03:56of the American banking system? Senator Alsterbrooks, I appreciate the question, and I look forward to
04:03meeting you at some point in the future to discuss these issues that might be important to you.
04:08I do believe that our examination staffs are of the most importance when we're talking about how we
04:15execute our responsibilities under supervision for our bank, for the safety and stability and soundness
04:22of the banking system. So if I were to do a review of our supervision and regulation division,
04:28should I be confirmed? I would certainly be very sensitive to the fact that we need to be able to
04:33fully and effectively implement our responsibilities for bank regulation. And so indiscriminately firing
04:41the men and women who are responsible for that, you would agree would threaten the soundness of our system?
04:46It seems as though it would be important to understand the composition of the workforce,
04:51and ensure that those that were subject to any removal would be appropriately made.
04:59Okay, it looks like my time is going. I yield. Thank you so much.