If Kamala Harris takes office, she will largely continue the economic policies and traditions of President Joe Biden’s administration. Among other things, it would mean that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell could complete his term, which ends in 2026, allowing the central bank to conduct monetary policy without interference from the White House.
But Senator Harris, the current vice president and presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, has appeared to have a more liberal bent as a U.S. senator. Harris, who represented California from 2017 to 2021, voted 84-13 against Powell’s first term as Fed chair in 2018. She joined seven Democrats, including Senators Cory Booker (NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), who were also preparing to run for president at the time, as well as four Republicans and Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders. During Powell’s confirmation hearing, Warren blasted him for not doing enough oversight of the U.S. banking industry.
Biden nominated Powell for a second term four years later, when Harris was vice president.
Harris also supported the Democratic 2020 platform, which proposed expanding the Fed’s dual mandate of pursuing maximum employment and price stability to include a racial equity component. The platform proposed that the Fed report on and combat racial employment and wage disparities in the U.S. A bill with such a requirement narrowly passed the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in 2022 but has yet to make it out of a Senate committee or come up for a vote in the Senate.
The Fed is not mentioned in a draft of the 2024 Democratic Party platform that party members will consider at the Democratic National Convention in August. Harris’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment on her economic plans.
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Biden’s economic policies focus on investing in green technology and infrastructure, countering China, and scrutinizing large corporations, especially in proposed mergers and acquisitions. Harris doesn’t have a long personal track record in economic policymaking, but that’s not for a lack of effort during her time as a senator.
Harris’ rhetoric and voting record as a senator and vice president reflect a progressive focus on families, workers and health care. As vice president, she has served as a spokesperson for Biden administration policies, including the Combat Inflation Act and the so-called “Build Back Better” programs, some of which became law early in Biden’s term. Harris leads the White House Task Force on Labor Organizing and Empowerment, which aims to support union members.
Harris served on the Budget Committee as a U.S. Senator and previously served as California’s Attorney General since 2011. Harris holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Howard University and a law degree from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Law.
As a senator, Harris introduced legislation that would have given tax credits to people whose monthly rent and utility payments exceed 30% of their income. The 2018 Rent Relief Act attracted five co-sponsors but never made it to a vote.
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In early 2019, Harris introduced the LIFT (Livable Income for Families Today) Middle Class Act, which would have created a quasi-universal basic income for many Americans in the form of a refundable tax credit of $3,000 per person for individuals earning less than $50,000 a year, double that amount for joint filers. The bill failed to make it out of committee.
Harris also introduced the Wall Street Executive Accountability Act of 2019, which also did not come to a vote. The bill would have allowed state attorneys general to “issue subpoenas to investigate alleged violations of State laws applicable to national banks.”
Senator Harris introduced many bills during her time in the Senate that were related to healthcare, including drug prices, maternal and child health, and telemedicine. As California’s Attorney General, she worked with the Department of Justice and other state attorneys general to block the merger of health insurance companies Cigna Group and Anthem (now Elevance Health), which subsequently fell apart.
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During a 2017 hearing on the 2018 federal budget, Harris focused her questions on retraining workers for 21st century jobs. She criticized proposed cuts to the Department of Labor and workforce training programs. In other hearings, Harris grilled witnesses about federal spending on programs for children, scientific research, and disaster relief, and the future solvency of Medicare and Social Security.
Harris voted in favor of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (CARES Act). As Vice President, she broke a 50-50 tie vote to pass the Inflation Control Act of 2022.
As a senator, Senator Harris voted against the Trump Administration’s ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in 2020. She also voted against the Republican-backed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, a 2018 bill to overhaul banking regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act, and the confirmation of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin under President Donald Trump.
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The 2024 Democratic platform proposes raising taxes on billionaires and large corporations, eliminating the child tax credit, and taxing capital gains at the same rate as income.
If Harris wins the party’s nomination as expected, she will face Republican candidate Trump in the presidential election on November 5th.
Email Nicholas Jasinski at nicholas.jasinski@barrons.com.
