*By Bridgette Webb*
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wants regulators to exert serious pressure on Wells Fargo ー pressure she hopes will result in the resignation of CEO Tim Sloan. But it's unclear whether the Senator's coaxing will have any real effect, said Pete Schroeder, a financial correspondent at Reuters.
"On paper, Warren can't make the Fed do anything," Schroeder said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
The central bank is an independent regulator and technically can't make Wells Fargo ($WFC) do anything either, he pointed out. And the board "so far has been supportive of Tim Sloan."
"What's interesting with this new letter is that Warren is trying to enlist the Fed in her effort. Her argument is that you can't overhaul the bank's policies and keep Tim Sloan, who has been at the bank for 30 years," Schroeder said.
Wells first came under fire in 2016 when news surfaced that employees secretly created millions of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts without customers' knowledge. The phony accounts charged customers with unjustified fees and allowed Wells employees to boost their sales figures and earn more in commissions.
The massive scandal resulted in the ouster of then-CEO John Stumpf and the promotion of Sloan, who was the bank's president at the time. He'd also previously served as chief operating officer and CFO.
But under his leadership, issues have continued to rock the bank, including the news that it improperly repossessed military service members’ cars.
In a letter to the Federal Reserve on Thursday, Warren argued that Sloan is profoundly implicated in the bank's misconduct.
"\[She's\] really putting a lot of pressure on the bank and really pushing for \[it\] to really overhaul the organization, basically saying it's clear that they are not running the bank in anything close to an appropriate fashion."
According to Schroeder, "Warren has been on the bank from the first scandal."
In February, the Fed made the unprecedented move of ordering Wells Fargo to keep its assets below $2 trillion, saying the company had prioritized growth over compliance with regulation. Warren wants to keep that cap on business in place until Sloan is essentially forced to resign.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-sen-warren-cant-force-the-fed-to-remove-wells-fargo-ceo).
President Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the fourth time this year. Biden and Putin spoke for two hours about the massing of Russian troops and materials near the Russian border with Ukraine. Various outlets have reported that the U.S. has intelligence that Russia could be planning an invasion of Ukraine in the next few months. Both countries said the call was productive, but the situation remains tense.
Hagar Chemali, foreign policy expert and host of "Oh My World!" on YouTube, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll indicated that Hispanic voters are up for grabs for the upcoming midterm elections, with 41 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Democrats and 44 percent for Republicans. Bryanta "Bre" Maxwell, a Democratic Strategist, former political director for Jaime Harrison's senate campaign, and principal and CEO of Indigo Consulting, LLC, joined Cheddar to break down the numbers and to dive into what this specific electorate is looking for as the balance of power in Congress hangs in the balance in 2022.
Vice President Kamala Harris received impressive amount of media coverage in January for making history. However, the media attention waned significantly and some are now even saying she has almost disappeared from public view. Reecie Colbert, founder of BlackWomenViews Media, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more.
If you thought you heard the last of the Mueller report back in 2019, you'd be wrong. While the bombshell report was the biggest story in Washington for years, much of the report remained redacted. Our friends at BuzzFeed News weren't satisfied, so they sued to have certain passages unredacted. They notched another win when a federal appeals court ordered ten passages from the report to be released.
Matt Topic, BuzzFeed's attorney in the case, and Jason Leopold, reporter at BuzzFeed News, join Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The U.S. reported its first confirmed case of the omicron variant in California on Wednesday. Scientists and health officials are racing to understand the variant, with the WHO saying it's still too early to determine whether it's more contagious, more deadly or more resistant to vaccines than other variants. Omicron has pushed members of the WHO to commit to start talks over a "gobal pandemic treaty" for future pandemic preparedness.
Priti Krishtel, co-founder and co-executive director of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Wednesday was not a good day for those who believe in abortion rights in this country as the Supreme Court heard arguments on a Mississippi abortion law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the court appears poised to roll back abortion rights, and the questions from the conservative justices seemed to indicate the law for nearly 50 years is likely to change.
Jessica Mason Pieklo, senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss Wednesday's hearing.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, has been busy since completing his prison sentence in November. He's getting into the NFT space, selling his federal prison badge and the original manuscript of his book "Disloyal" as NFTs. Cohen joined Cheddar to discuss his latest venture and why he thinks there is still much to be revealed about his case.
Jonathan Adler, Law Professor at Case Western Reserve University, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Tuesday's ruling and provide legal context to recent battles over vaccine mandates.
Carlo and Baker wrap up the week talking about the Biden economic boom that no one seems to notice, a verdict in the Jussie Smollett case, the first Starbucks union in America and the pleasures of the "dude nod."
