Mace doesn’t support a bailout for Silicon Valley Bank

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) on Sunday said she doesn’t support a bailing out of Silicon Valley Bank, which has rocked the tech sector with its abrupt collapse late last week.

“As a member of Congress, do you think they should get bailed out by the federal government?” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Mace on “State of the Union.”

“It’s still very early to see — or say what the ramifications are going to be. That was a unique bank that mostly served startups in Silicon Valley. And those customers have been hit by inflation. They have been hit by interest rates. They are low on cash. There was also a panic run by some of the larger companies last week,” Mace responded.

“The CEO sold himself millions of dollars of stock and gave his employees, I read this morning, bonuses right before the government took over the bank. You know, we cannot keep bailing out private companies, because there’s no consequences to their actions. People, when they make mistakes or break the law, have to be held accountable in this country.”

Collins pressed the congresswoman to confirm that she doesn’t support a bailout.

“Not at this time. I would — It’s still very early. I don’t even think it’s been 48 hours. But at this time, I would not support a bailout,” Mace said. 

Regulators shut down the Silicon Valley Bank on Friday, marking the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history, after the 2008 financial crisis.

Customers pulled their funds from the bank from the institution after executives said they’d raise up to $1.75 billion in capital. California regulators stepped in.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said the federal government won’t bail out the bank.