Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) sent a letter to Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, seeking information regarding the Department of the Treasury’s Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE), its mission, and its intentions.
According to the treasury, it formed the committee to address topics such as financial “inclusion,” capital access, and housing stability.
However, Ogles stated that he has “serious concerns” regarding the committee and claims that the Department of the Treasury has failed in these categories and instead focuses on advancing radical leftist environmental, social, and governance policies.
“Instead of using resources to address the economic destruction of millions of Americans, Secretary Yellen and the Treasury’s Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE) are focusing on forcing ESG policies on folks. Yellen has done nothing to address the crippling inflation plaguing hardworking taxpayers. Instead, she propagates the Biden Administration’s big-spending agenda, which no longer fools the American people,” Ogles said.
The representative explained in the letter that financial inclusion is declining rather than rising. Over 60 percent of American consumers struggle to make ends meet. Numerous households still lack bank accounts, and inflation continues restraining economic expansion.
The congressman also detailed that instead of addressing the needs of Americans, the Department of the Treasury has “shifted its focus on cramming environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies down the throats of Americans.”
“In June 2021, you stated that it is your hope to ‘unlock progress towards greater ESG clarity.’ In lieu of pursuing some vacuous leftist authoritarian concept, your efforts should instead be committed to addressing our petering economy and declining key fiscal indicators including inflation. This Administration’s obsession with pushing insidious leftist ideology, at the expense of the free market, is marginalizing the private sector’s ability to do what it does best. There can be no financial ‘inclusion’ while this Administration continues its war against capitalism,” Ogles said.
Ogles also claimed that high-interest rates have undercut access to capital, a direct consequence of the TACRE supporting the implementation of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which only adds inflationary pressure and further restricts access to capital, compromising long-term economic growth.
The letter details that while the committee is pursuing its “destructive pseudo-Marxist ESG policies,” it has failed to meaningfully address the lack of housing stability in the U.S. cities nationwide, still confronting an ever-growing homelessness crisis.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), first-time home buyers currently make up 26 percent of all home buyers, a decrease from 34 percent in 2022.
The congressman noted that inflation shows no signs of abating and citizens notice the damage to their finances with rising costs turning grocery staples into luxuries for many people on a fixed budget.
According to Ogles, he requested she disband the committee until Yellen can explain the impact of inflation and this administration’s policies on the American people.
“If Secretary Yellen can’t explain her failures, I have requested she disband the TACRE committee and disclose just how much taxpayer money she wasted on this pet project,” Ogles said.
Ogles noted that if she cannot comply by September 27th, Congress, acting through the Go Woke, Go Broke Act, will compel compliance.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, The Arizona Sun Times, and The Tennessee Star. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
