Biden Fed nominee faces grilling over reparations and police reform
Lisa Cook, a professor of economics at Michigan State University who served under President Barack Obama as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers, was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors. During her confirmation hearing Thursday, Republicans are planning to highlight her past political remarks and social media use to raise questions about her commitment to remaining nonpartisan as a top Fed official.
Cook has a history of speaking about reparations, which is the notion that the government should subsidize or give some sort of payout to the decedents of slaves. She has supportedlegislation that would create a commission to study and develop reparation proposals.
For instance, Cook has retweeted people who have been critical about the current state of policing and in support of mass racial justice protests that sprung up across the country after the murder of George Floyd.
“The violence in Portland stopped the day federal officers left town. Stop saying the protesters are the violent ones,” said one missive, which she retweeted after riots and looting rocked the Oregon city.
During a 2020 interview for the show Merrittocracy, Cook was asked about some of the causes and charities that she supports and thinks others should support with their time or finances. Among others, she cited liberal voting rights activist Stacey Abrams’s group and said she has also donated to “bail funds” for “protestors who have been thrown in jail for no reason.”
Lisa Cook, a professor of economics at Michigan State University who served under President Barack Obama as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers, was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve on the Fed’s Board of Governors. During her confirmation hearing Thursday, Republicans are planning to highlight her past political remarks and social media use to raise questions about her commitment to remaining nonpartisan as a top Fed official.
Cook has a history of speaking about reparations, which is the notion that the government should subsidize or give some sort of payout to the decedents of slaves. She has supportedlegislation that would create a commission to study and develop reparation proposals.
For instance, Cook has retweeted people who have been critical about the current state of policing and in support of mass racial justice protests that sprung up across the country after the murder of George Floyd.
“The violence in Portland stopped the day federal officers left town. Stop saying the protesters are the violent ones,” said one missive, which she retweeted after riots and looting rocked the Oregon city.
During a 2020 interview for the show Merrittocracy, Cook was asked about some of the causes and charities that she supports and thinks others should support with their time or finances. Among others, she cited liberal voting rights activist Stacey Abrams’s group and said she has also donated to “bail funds” for “protestors who have been thrown in jail for no reason.”
