Ted Kaufman

Kaufman stated on the Senate floor his intention to recapture the Spirit of the Glass–Steagall Act, passed in 1933, which had been rescinded in 1999.

Edward Emmett Kaufman (born March 15, 1939) is a retired American politician and businessman who served as a United States senator from Delaware from 2009 to 2010.

He chaired the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program; he was the second and final person to hold the position, succeeding Elizabeth Warren.

Kaufman is a member of the Democratic Party and key ally of President Joe Biden.

Edward Emmett Kaufman was born on March 15, 1939, in Philadelphia, the son of Helen (née Carroll), a teacher, and Manuel Kaufman, a social worker.

His father was of Russian Jewish ancestry and his mother was a Catholic of Irish descent.

He was raised Catholic, his mother's religion.

Kaufman graduated Central High School in Philadelphia, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Duke University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Kaufman originally moved to Delaware in 1966 to work for DuPont as an engineer.

In 1972 he joined Joe Biden's U.S. Senate campaign, which was considered to be a long shot, on a volunteer basis.

After Biden's surprise victory in 1972, he took a one-year leave of absence from DuPont to organize and head Senator Biden's Delaware Office.

In 1976 he became Biden's Chief of Staff and administrative assistant and served until 1995, also working on Biden's subsequent Senate campaigns.

Kaufman was appointed to the Senate to serve the remainder of longtime Senator Biden's term after he was elected Vice President in 2008.

Prior to becoming a U.S. Senator, Kaufman had served as an advisor to Biden for much of his political career and later served as the head of his presidential transition.

On a personal level, Kaufman has been described as Biden's "best friend".

On November 24, 2008, Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner announced her intention to appoint Kaufman to replace Biden in the Senate.

He was appointed on January 15, 2009, the same day Biden resigned his seat, and was sworn in the next day.

Early in his term, Kaufman supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

The stimulus package has meant more than $800 million in federal funding to support Delaware's economic recovery.

In July 2009, Kaufman participated in the Senate Judiciary Committee's Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

During the hearing, Kaufman's line of questioning focused on the current Court's recent treatment of business cases and on Judge Sotomayor's judicial approach.

Kaufman voted to send Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate for a vote.

In response to his perception that "people just feel it's perfectly okay to denigrate federal employees", Kaufman gave speeches once a week starting in May 2009 praising a different federal employee until the end of his term.

The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (FERA) was signed into law by President Obama on May 20, 2009.

Kaufman had sought to further restore confidence in the U.S. financial markets by introducing bipartisan legislation to address abusive short selling and other market manipulation.

Kaufman urged the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) to consider reinstating the "uptick rule" – which aids market stability and hampers price discovery.

He gave multiple floor statements and written numerous letters to the agency with Senate colleagues on this issue, as well as the need for a pre-borrow requirement or a "hard locate" system for short sales.

Kaufman served in the Senate until his successor, Chris Coons, was elected in a special election in 2010 to finish out the term.

Kaufman chose not to run for a full term.

Kaufman inherited appointments to the same two committees that his predecessor, Biden, had served on before his resignation – the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on the Judiciary.

In June 2010 Kaufman participated in the Senate Judiciary Committee's Supreme Court nomination hearing for Judge Elena Kagan.

Kaufman voted to send Judge Kagan's nomination to the full Senate for a vote.

Kaufman was succeeded by Chris Coons, a Democrat, after Coons defeated Republican nominee Christine O'Donnell in November 2010.

Kaufman resigned and Coons took office on November 15, 2010, in accordance with Delaware state law and Senate rules.

As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kaufman introduced bipartisan legislation with Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to strengthen tools and increase resources available to federal prosecutors to combat financial fraud.

In 2010, Kaufman, along with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), introduced an amendment to the then-proposed Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, known as the Brown–Kaufman amendment.

The amendment would have limited the nondeposit liabilities of banks to two percent of gross domestic product, effectively curtailing the size to which banks could grow.

After Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election, Kaufman was chosen to head Biden's transition team.

Prior to serving as a U.S. senator, Kaufman was a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) – the independent, autonomous, federal entity responsible for all U.S. government and government-sponsored non-military international broadcasting.

He was appointed to the BBG by Presidents Clinton and Bush and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for four terms.