If you’ve ever wondered whether or not Republicans will take any possible route to be racist, hateful, and discriminatory, shocking remarks made during a Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing for President Joe Biden’s bank regulator pick, Saule Omarova, will probably answer that for you. For the general public, the decision about who controls our currency and bank regulation isn’t terribly exciting. But thanks to racist remarks made by Republicans, and the subsequent call-out from Democrats, people are talking about Omarova’s nomination. This is great because, among other reasons, if confirmed to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (often abbreviated as the OCC, it functions as an independent part of the Treasury Department), Omarova would be a number of firsts in the role—the first immigrant, the first person of color, and the first woman. So of course, Republicans chose to attack her with an extended smear campaign during her hearing on Thursday.  Read more