This Week, Pressley Urged Fed Chair Powell to Take Action to Address Rising Black Women Unemployment Rate

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion is good for business, and it is good for the economy.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – In a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) highlighted the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices for businesses and the economy, and underscored the harmful impact of rising unemployment among Black women. Rep. Pressley also discussed the need for transparency for companies’ shareholders about diversity, equity, and inclusion practices and the harm of Republicans’ proposed changes to Securities and Exchange Commission rules on families, businesses, and the economy.

This week, Rep. Pressley wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell sounding the alarm on the rising unemployment rate for Black women in the United States and demanding the Fed take immediate action to uphold its mandate of maximum employment for all. Her letter comes with the Trump Administration’s mass federal workforce layoffs disproportionately impacting Black women and as Donald Trump attempts to seize control of the Fed by illegally firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

A full transcript of Congresswoman Pressley’s exchange with witnesses today is below and the full video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley Affirms Importance of DEI to US Economy, Sounds Alarm on Black Women’s Unemployment

House Financial Services Committee

September 10, 2025

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion matter. 

Diversity means all people: veterans, LGBTQ, women, rural communities, Black people.

Equity means fair access to opportunities. And Inclusion means having a real pathway to the American dream.

No executive order from Donald Trump is going to change that. And certainly, no legislation from my Republican colleagues will. 

But that doesn’t stop them from trying.

Republicans are proposing bills that would make it harder or even impossible for shareholders to increase transparency around diversity hiring and inclusive workplaces.

Shareholders want this information because study after study has affirmed that diverse teams create more money for companies, they are more innovative, and are better and faster at making decisions.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion is good for business, and it is good for the economy.

Mr. Mueller, does Gibson Dunn & Crutcher value the practice of diversity and inclusion? Just a simple yes or no.

MR. MUELLER: Yes.

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you. Mr. Chair, I would like to enter into the record this webpage from Gibson Dunn entitled “Diversity and Inclusion.”

CHAIR: Without objection. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Mrs. Keel, you are a partner at Jones Day. Does your firm value the practice of diversity and inclusion? Just a simple yes or no.

MRS. KEEL: Yes.

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you. Mr. Chair, I would like to enter into the record this webpage from Jones Day entitled “Inclusion.”

CHAIR: Without objection.

REP. PRESSLEY: Comptroller Lander, do you as New York City Comptroller value the practice of diversity and inclusion in your office?

COMPTROLLER LANDER: Absolutely. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you. Thank you for your express commitment today. 

I also want to commend you on your statement in February pushing back against Trump’s attacks on DEI and I would like to enter that statement into the record.

CHAIR: Without objection. 

REP. PRESSLEY: Now, it is really wonderful to see this type of agreement, bipartisan agreement, by Republican and Democratic witnesses here today. 

However, the fact remains that the fiscally irresponsible policies from the White House and Republicans in Congress are pushing people out of the workforce. 

Unemployment is on the rise and Black women are bearing the brunt of the job losses. But what else is new—we bear the brunt of everything. 

Black workers are the last hired and the first fired. The alarming spike in Black women’s unemployment is the canary in the coalmine, a devastating warning of where our economy is headed.

That is exactly why I wrote a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell calling on the Fed to do its job and honor their statutory mandate to promote maximum employment and address this crisis for Black women.  

But it’s not just the Fed who must take action. The SEC must too.

Comptroller Lander, do the Republicans’ proposed changes to SEC rules help or hurt transparency for shareholders?

COMPTROLLER LANDER: They hurt transparency for shareholders.

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you.

We need policies that empower shareholders and protect investors. 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion matter. 

It’s good for business, it’s good for families, it’s good for the economy, and the data supports it.

I yield back.

—

Rep. Pressley has consistently advocated for race-conscious policies to help close the racial wealth gap in America, uplift Black, brown, and other marginalized communities.

• Building on the legacy of Black women in the civil rights movement, Rep. Pressley led a historic resolution calling for a federal job guarantee.  
• In a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Congresswoman Pressley questioned Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the issue of full employment and the Civil Rights history of the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate. Powell conceded, for the first time in Federal Reserve history and on the Congressional record, that the Fed alone cannot get the United States to full employment.
• Congresswoman Pressley, along with Senator Cory Booker, is the lead co-sponsor of the American Opportunity Accounts Act—also known as Baby Bonds—legislation that would create a federally-funded savings account for every American child in order to make economic opportunity a birthright for every child and help close the racial wealth gap.
• Rep. Pressley introduced the Equity in Government Act to codify racial equity across federal agencies and improve government services for underserved communities.
• Rep. Pressley has also called on the five largest banks in America to provide a detailed update on the racial equity commitments the institutions made following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
• Rep. Pressley was also a leading voice in Congress urging President Biden to cancel student debt. Following years of advocacy by Rep. Pressley—in partnership with colleagues, borrowers, and advocates like the NAACP—the Biden-Harris Administration announced a historic plan to cancel student debt that stands to benefit over 40 million people.

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