Committee advances Atkins, Gould, Pettit, and Molinaro nominations
The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee held an executive session to consider four Trump administration nominations: Paul Atkins for SEC Commissioner, Jonathan Gould for Comptroller of the Currency, Luke Pettit for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and Marcus Molinaro for Federal Transit Administrator. Chair Scott spoke in favor of all four nominees while Ranking Member Warren raised objections tied to broader concerns about the administration's handling of federal agencies, and the committee then voted by roll call to report each nomination favorably to the full Senate. Begins at▶ 0:16:43
• Chair Tim Scott (R-SC)▶ 0:16:43: Introduced the four nominees, praising Atkins for promoting capital formation and digital-asset clarity▶ 0:16:43, Gould for ending "politically motivated de-banking"▶ 0:17:12, Pettit for a bipartisan approach to Treasury reforms▶ 0:17:40, and Molinaro for his transportation and local-government experience▶ 0:17:55; presided over the roll call votes, announcing Atkins passed 13-11▶ 0:23:07, Gould 13-11▶ 0:24:11, Pettit 19-5▶ 0:25:21, and Molinaro 20-4▶ 0:26:39.
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member▶ 0:18:53: Criticized the Trump administration for laying off 10,000 federal employees at agencies including the CDC, FDA, and NIH▶ 0:18:53; said her litmus test for nominees is whether they will enforce the law rather than defer to "co-presidents Trump and Musk"▶ 0:19:24; argued Atkins was wrong ahead of the financial crisis and later worked for Sam Bankman-Fried▶ 0:19:57, and that Gould weakened banking rules as chief counsel in the first Trump administration▶ 0:20:28; said she would not vote to confirm any of the four nominees▶ 0:21:22.
• Warren said Atkins "has spent his post government career helping billionaire scammers like CEO Sam Bankman-Fried get even richer"▶ 0:19:57.
• Warren argued Gould's record suggests he "will do what is in the best interest of Wall Street, and the American people can pay for it with the bailouts that follow"▶ 0:20:28.
• Warren said she has no doubt Molinaro wants to support public transit workers, but expects the White House and Musk to terminate FTA employees regardless▶ 0:20:51.
• The committee voted 13-11 to report Paul Atkins' SEC nomination favorably to the full Senate▶ 0:23:07.
• The committee voted 13-11 to report Jonathan Gould's Comptroller of the Currency nomination favorably▶ 0:24:11.
• The committee voted 19-5 to report Luke Pettit's Treasury nomination favorably▶ 0:25:21.
• The committee voted 20-4 to report Marcus Molinaro's Federal Transit Administrator nomination favorably▶ 0:26:39.
• Chair Scott joked about starting the vote before the necessary members had arrived, saying "we will penalize you later"▶ 0:21:37.
| Official title | Business meeting to consider the nominations of Paul Atkins, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jonathan Gould, of Virginia, to be Comptroller of the Currency, and Luke Pettit, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Secretary, both of the Department of the Treasury, and Marcus Molinaro, of New York, to be Federal Transit Administrator, Department of Transportation. |
| Committee | Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs |
| Chamber / Congress | Senate · 119th Congress |
| Date | 2025-04-03 |
| Type | Meeting |
| Witnesses | (none listed in event metadata) |
| Video | senate-isvp |
| Transcript | 24 caption blocks · 885 words · 0:27:03 runtime |
| Event | Congress.gov 336801 |