Controversial Biden banking nominee Omarova bows out over concerns raised about her ties to Marxism

Cornell Law Professor Saule Omarova withdrew her nomination for comptroller of the currency following Senate Republicans voicing concerns about her Marxist ties.

In Omarova's withdrawal letter posted Tuesday by the White House, she wrote that while it was an honor to be nominated by President Joe Biden, "it is no longer tenable" for her to continue as a nominee and ultimately lead the agency in charge of regulating American banks.

Biden responded that he accepts Omarova's withdrawal, and says she "was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale."

Biden described his former nominee as "a strong advocate for consumers and a staunch defender of the safety and soundness of our financial system" who would have "brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people."

Republicans, moderate Democrats and banking industry officials disagreed with Biden's nomination.

Omarova, a Kazakh native educated in the USSR, was under scrutiny for a history of leftist statements, as previously reported by Just the News.

In 2019, she tweeted, "Until I came to the US, I couldn't imagine that things like gender pay gap still existed in today's world. Say what you will about old USSR, there was no gender pay gap there. Market doesn't always 'know best.'"

A video surfaced earlier this year of the Moscow State University alumna cheering for oil and gas companies to go bankrupt. Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) responded by calling on Biden to withdrawal Omarova's nomination.

As recently as October of this year, a paper by Omarova was published titled, "The People’s Ledger: How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy."

The professor called for "replacing commercial bank reserve accounts with universally available deposit accounts" so "all U.S. citizens and law-abiding citizens and lawful residents, local governments, nonbanking firms and nonbusiness entities" can bank at the Federal Reserve.

Her proposed plan would have the Federal Reserve take money from these accounts when "it is necessary to expand the money supply in order to stimulate economic activity."

Her thesis at Moscow State University was "Karl Marx's Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital," but she declined to provide it to the Senate Banking Committee to review.

"I don’t know whether to call you professor or comrade," Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) stated last month at a confirmation hearing for Omarova.

"My concern with Professor Omarova is her long history of promoting ideas that she herself describes as 'radical,'" Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said at the hearing.

Axios reported in November that her nomination was publicly opposed by at least five Democratic senators: Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Mark Warner (Va.). 

Without any support from Republicans, Democratic opposition would have ultimately doomed her nomination, as they hold a slim 50-member majority.