Memos

Topline: The Biden administration, along with progressive allies in California, is seeking to ban the sale of the vast majority of conventional vehicles and hybrids within the decade. Congress must pass legislation to stop them.

Background
• The Biden EPA is finalizing a rule that would require two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to have zero tailpipe emissions by 2032 (virtually eliminating the sale of gas-powered vehicles and also hybrids).
• The Newsom administration’s proposed tailpipe rule is even more aggressive, mandating the same targets by 2030, and a complete prohibition of new sales by 2035.
• AAF has repeatedly called on leaders to fight policies that discriminate against American energy in favor of energy that relies on resources from foreign adversaries (such as the rare earth minerals from China necessary to make electric vehicle batteries).
• In our legislative agenda for American energy, we urge leaders to “reject state and federal mandates, such as those banning gasoline-powered vehicles, that eliminate consumers’ options, drive up costs, and increase reliance on materials from our foreign adversaries.”

Protecting American Families
• House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chair Bill Johnson (R-OH) are holding a hearing today, where they will consider AAF-backed legislation to counter progressives’ war on affordable vehicles, including the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act and the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act.
• Advancing both pieces of legislation is critical in the fight to protect the American consumer and stop the Left’s climate radicalism.
• Additionally, Advancing American Freedom also calls on Republicans on Capitol Hill to conduct rigorous oversight of the Biden administration via hearings and resolutions that roll back the administrative overreach that has become the hallmark of the green agenda.

As AAF Founder, Vice President Mike Pence, has said: “President Biden and his progressive allies on Capitol Hill have been intent on crippling the U.S. energy industry for the sake of a radical green agenda.” The Left continues in the “prioritization of its policies over the prosperity of the American people. The government has no right to tell Americans what kind of car they can drive any more than they can tell vehicle manufacturers what to produce. President Biden’s far-left climate agenda reduces options for consumers and increases our reliance on China and its electric vehicle battery production.”

Resources
• AAF Slams Biden’s Approval of Chinese Battery Production Facility
• AAF Supports GOP Effort to Roll Back SEC Overreach
• AAF on Biden Administration’s Plans to Eliminate Gas Vehicles
• The Future of Freedom: Unleashing American Energy

Reach out to John Shelton (jshelton@advancingamericanfreedom.com) with any questions.

Topline: The Brown-Scott clawback bill would give bank regulators arbitrary authority to claw back executive pay when banks fail but does nothing to hold regulators accountable for sleeping on the job.

Background

Earlier this year, we witnessed the failure of two federally regulated commercial banks (Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank) as a result of federal mismanagement and regulators asleep at the wheel in the midst of historic inflation and rising interest rates induced by a government spending spree.

The government response was pitiful in everything but the price point, and completely counterproductive to the task of preventing future failures.

By bailing out these banks, including the deposits of many Chinese companies that were SVB customers, the Biden administration continues the Obama administration’s policy of promoting moral hazard.

In the wake of SVB’s collapse, anti-bank Bolsheviks like Senator Elizabeth Warren tried to ram their progressive policies through Congress but were thwarted by commonsense.

Now, in their own “response” to these bank failures, Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown and Ranking Member Tim Scott have introduced a “Warren-lite” executive compensation clawback.

RECOUP Act – Background

Gives the FDIC discretion to claw back up to two years of compensation for the executives of failed depository institutions (exempting lenders with less than $10 billion in assets). This is just shy of Senator Warren’s proposed three-year clawback period.

Raises the civil money penalty for reckless behavior causing a substantial loss to a depository institution from $1 million to $3 million. Senator Warren’s bill contains no such provision.

Introduces new Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) mandates, forcing banks to comply with additional unnecessary regulations.

RECOUP Act – Impact

This bill does nothing to address and preempt the causes of bank failures and instead punishes private companies for their own business decisions. Rather than focusing on the roles of a mismanaged Federal Reserve and a crushing regulatory regime, this legislation merely serves as a slap on the wrist to a small subset of bank executives. Additionally, this legislation would seek to codify ESG mandates that further the policy priorities of the Left through corporate governance with little to no legislative oversight.

Instead of supporting legislation that serves as a vehicle for progressive policy priorities, conservatives should address and preempt the causes of bank failures, starting with the catastrophic mismanagement of the Fed. This should include heavy scrutiny of the Fed’s dual mandate and its special exemptions from federal oversight.

Resources
Advancing American Opportunity (Advancing American Freedom)
Pence Blasts Biden Bank Bailout (Daily Mail)

Contact John Shelton (jshelton@advancingamericanfreedom.com) with any questions.