President Trump is pushing the Federal Reserve to go beyond its legal mandate and help him manage the national debt as Republicans face growing pressure over the nation’s finances.
President Trump is pushing the Federal Reserve to go beyond its legal mandate and help him manage the national debt as Republicans face growing pressure over the nation’s finances.
In a series of remarks and social media posts, Trump has ripped Fed Chair Jerome Powell for refusing to lower interest rates, insisting he should help the White House manage the costs of servicing more than $36 trillion in national debt.
“’Too Late’ Jerome Powell is costing our Country Hundreds of Billions of Dollars. He is truly one of the dumbest, and most destructive, people in Government, and the Fed Board is complicit,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social, a day after the Fed held interest rates steady.
While Trump has spent most of his two White House stints berating Powell to cut rates, only recently has he tied those demands to the country’s deteriorating fiscal health.
“We’re beginning to see what I think are the early warning signs that the Fed is going to be increasingly called upon to keep the government solvent,” said David Beckworth, senior research fellow and monetary policy director at the Mercatus Center, a libertarian-leaning think tank at George Mason University.
“When you begin to see this type of rhetoric, it’s a clear sign that people are beginning to get nervous,” Beckworth explained. “And how else can we save money? Well, let’s turn into the Fed and put pressure on them.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) ordered the state’s public power utility this week to start working on a zero-emissions advanced nuclear energy site that would be the nation’s first major nuclear plant project in nearly two decades.
Hackers aligned with Iran have claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on President Trump’s Truth Social platform, according to the cyber nonprofit Center for Internet Security (CIS).
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced legislation Monday seeking to bar public officials, including the president and his family, from certain cryptocurrency-related activities amid growing concerns about President Trump’s involvement in the industry.
Thune says senators will stay in DC to wrap tax law
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced Monday that the upper chamber will remain in Washington until it is able to pass President Trump’s ambitious tax cut package, raising the chances of scuttling a planned recess next week.
“Senators return to Washington today and we will remain here until this reconciliation bill is passed,” Thune said in an op-ed.
“By placing it on President Trump’s desk by the 4th of July, we will be ensuring that future generations of Americans can live in safety and prosperity,” he added.
Senators are scheduled to be on recess during the week of July 4, which has been the party’s deadline to pass Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” Thune, though, had made clear to lawmakers in recent weeks he will nix that plan if they need the week to secure passage of the massive proposal.
At this point, it is looking increasingly likely that the Senate GOP’s work will spill into next week as it struggles to win over the requisite 51 votes as a number of holdouts remain.
— Al Weaver
Tax Watch is a regular feature focused on the fight over tax reform and extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts this year. Email a tip
The Supreme Court on Monday lifted judge-imposed limits on the Trump administration’s deportations to countries where migrants have no ties over a scathing dissent from the court’s liberal justices. Read more
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