Haley attacks Biden over ‘bailout’ of Silicon Valley Bank

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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley attacked President Biden on Monday over what she called a “bailout” of Silicon Valley Bank, which collapsed late last week after regulators seized the failed bank’s assets and promised to make depositors full.

“Joe Biden is pretending this isn’t a bailout. It is,” Haley said on Twitter.

The administration moved Sunday night to use emergency measures to give depositors access to their full funds, drawing from the Deposit Insurance Fund — a banking industry-sponsored fund — so that “no losses will be borne by the taxpayers,” Biden said.

Biden has underscored that the federal government isn’t bailing the bank out, echoing the assurances of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen; the president stressed that the U.S. banking system is safe amid the last few days of uncertainty. 

But Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, argued that “now depositors at healthy banks are forced to subsidize Silicon Valley Bank’s mismanagement” and said the bank’s assets should be sold off.

“When the Deposit Insurance Fund runs dry, all bank customers are on the hook. That’s a public bailout. Depositors should be paid by selling off Silicon Valley Bank’s assets, not by the public. Taxpayers should not be responsible,” Haley said in a tweet.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle had expressed opposition to a bailout possibility in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, which has rocked the tech sector and raised questions about the stability of other mid-size U.S. banks.

“No losses will be — and I want — this is an important point — no losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Let me repeat that: No losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund,” Biden said Monday.

“The bottom line is this: Americans can rest assured that our banking system is safe. Your deposits are safe. Let me also assure you, we will not stop at this. We’ll do whatever is needed,” the president added.

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