(Bloomberg) — A group of House Democrats questioned Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about actions they may have taken in response to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order ending diversity programs.
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“Executive orders should not lead to premature or excessive compliance actions that undermine legally required” efforts on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, wrote Representative Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and 11 other lawmakers.
The House members requested that Powell, Bessent and other regulators provide a legal analysis justifying why compliance with the executive orders is necessary, “if at all.” They also sought all documents the agencies had sent or received from the Office of Personnel Management related to Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion staff.
Waters questioned Powell at a House hearing earlier this week about what the Fed will do to ensure it has the best and most diverse employees.
Powell said Wednesday the central bank is in a “constant contest to hire the best talent” and “we will go anywhere to find that talent.” He also said he was willing to immediately brief Waters’ staff on the status of the Fed’s Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion and equal employment.
The letter was also sent to Travis Hill, acting chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and Mark Uyeda, acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Asked about the letter, a SEC spokesperson said Uyeda will respond to members of Congress directly.
The Treasury did not respond to a request for comment and the FDIC declined to comment.
–With assistance from Nicola M White.
(Updates with regulators’ comment starting in 7th paragraph.)
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