President Joe Biden is withdrawing the nomination of Saule Omarova to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
In a statement on Tuesday, Biden said, “I have accepted Saule Omarova’s request to withdraw her name from nomination for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. I nominated Saule because of her deep expertise in financial regulation and her long-standing, respected career in the private sector, the public sector, and as a leading academic in the field.”
“She has lived the American dream, escaping her birthplace in the former Soviet Union and immigrating to America, where she went on to serve in the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush and now works as a professor at Cornell Law School,” he continued.
The president went on to argue Omarova “would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people.”
“But unfortunately, from the beginning of her nomination, Saule was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale,” he added.
Read the statement below:
Biden: "Saule would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people. But unfortunately, from the very beginning of her nomination, Saule was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale." pic.twitter.com/cDUwvY8k5B
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 7, 2021
Omarova grew up in the former Soviet Union, and Republican senators sought to paint her as a communist during her confirmation hearing.
During the hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said, “I don’t know whether to call you ‘professor’ or ‘comrade.'”
“Senator, I’m not a Communist,” Omarova responded, adding, “I do not subscribe to that ideology. I could not choose where I was born.”
She went on to say her family “suffered under the Communist regime. I grew up without knowing half of my family. My grandmother herself escaped death twice under the Stalinist regime. This is what’s seared in my mind. That’s who I am. I remember that history. I came to this country. I’m proud to be an American.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) claimed her “ideas do amount to a socialist manifesto for American financial services.”
Along with Republican opposition to Omarova, Axios reports that five moderate Democrats said they were also opposed to her nomination.