Tester Slams Trump Nominee for Extreme Views on Public Land, Postal Service, and Amtrak Privatization

Senator: “This would have pretty significant impacts on the 72,000 people who work in the outdoor industry in Montana.”

The nomination of Judy Shelton to a leading position at the Federal Reserve has U.S. Senator Jon Tester raising serious questions about her views supporting the selling off of public lands, Amtrak, and the U.S. Postal Service to pay down the national debt.

Shelton—who was nominated to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System by President Trump—appeared before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday where Tester railed against her outside-the-mainstream beliefs that public lands, Amtrak, and the Postal Service should be privatized.

“If we’ve got people in positions of power that are making sure that unemployment is maximized as they do at the Fed, and we have people that have written about selling off things like Amtrak, Postal Service, and our public land holdings—that’s a problem.” said Tester. “It’s important to note that these public lands drive an economy in Montana, and Montana’s only got about a million people in it, but it’s about $7 billion to our economy.”

Tester continued: “Somebody would advocate that this would have pretty significant impacts on the 72,000 people who work in the outdoor industry in Montana.”

The Federal Reserve serves as the nation’s central bank, providing liquidity and conducting monetary policy independent of Congress and the President. Their dual mandate is to maximize employment and price stability. The Board of Governors is comprised of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, and five additional members that serve 14 year terms.

Tester is a proven champion for Montana’s public lands, Amtrak, and Post Offices. Earlier this month, he criticized President Trump’s proposal to slash 97% of funds for the Land Water Conservation Fund—a conservation tool critical to Montana’s public lands. He is also championing efforts to restore Amtrak ticket agents in Havre and Shelby after he heard overwhelming opposition to their removal from local residents.

Watch Tester’s remarks at the Senate Banking Committee HERE.