Senator Calls for Probe on Fed Impartiality

Aug 29, 2019

The U.S. Senate voted 54 to 45 to confirm William Barr as the next Attorney General, filling the void left by the firing of Jeff Sessions in December

A member of the Senate Banking Committee is seeking a probe into the Federal Reserve following comments by one of its former officials to have the central bank intentionally withhold rate cuts as a strategy of preventing a second term for President Trump.

According to a Politico report, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) announced his plan to ask the committee’s chairman, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), to convene a hearing “regarding Fed independence and the danger of this institution taking unprecedented and inappropriate steps to meddle in the presidential election.” Tillis’ action follows an op-ed column by former New York Federal Reserve President and CEO William F. Dudley that criticized Trump Administration economic and trade policies and argued against the president’s re-election.

“Central bank officials face a choice: enable the Trump administration to continue down a disastrous path of trade war escalation, or send a clear signal that if the administration does so, the president, not the Fed, will bear the risks—including the risk of losing the next election,” Dudley wrote. “Trump’s re-election arguably presents a threat to the U.S. and global economy, to the Fed’s independence and its ability to achieve its employment and inflation objectives.”

“I am very disappointed that former Fed monetary Vice Chairman Bill Dudley is lobbying the Fed to use its authority as a political weapon against President Trump,” Tillis said in a statement. “The President is standing up for America against China after 30 years of our country and our workers being ripped off and there is now an effort to get the Fed to try to sabotage the President’s efforts.”

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Phil Hall

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Aug 29, 2019

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