Elizabeth Warren Warns Trump Nominee: Hands Off The Fed

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Huff Post

Nov 25, 2024, 05:00 AM EST


The soon-to-be top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee cautioned Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next treasury secretary, to respect the Federal Reserve’s policy independence. “I have been a fierce critic of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s extreme interest rate hikes and lack of transparency, but I have never questioned that it is his job to make those decisions. It would be a serious error for the Trump administration to interfere with the Fed’s independence, as Mr. Bessent has suggested,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement Monday.

Warren will succeed Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) as the leader of the Democrats on the panel in the new Congress that will be seated in early January. Unlike Brown, she’ll be in the minority in the new Congress, which will see Republicans hold 53 seats. Trump announced Bessent as his pick to be treasury secretary Friday night, calling him in a social media post “one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists.”

Bessent is the founder of a hedge fund named Key Square Capital and advised Trump on economic policy during his presidential campaign. He started his hedge fund in 2015 after previously working for Soros Fund Management, the asset manager for billionaire investor and activist George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

Bessent raised eyebrows in October when he said Trump should nominate a replacement for Powell well ahead of the 2026 end of Powell’s term as chairman of the central bank. That “shadow” Fed chair would have the attention of financial markets even before he or she were confirmed, which would rob the Fed chairman of one of the traditional powers of the office, being able to jawbone markets through public comments.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-warns-trump-nominee-on-fed_n_67437fb0e4b03c8ec6f8d617

[ramedy]

1. Or what?

She will write a strong letter?

[Yavin4]

4. Hey! Hey! Hey!

Easy there. Np need to bring out the heavy artillery this early in the battle. Let's save the sternly worded letters when we need them the most.

[Fla Dem]

2. Hmmm, I'm not reading that in the article posted. Here are the references to what she said.

The soon-to-be top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee cautioned Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next treasury secretary, to respect the Federal Reserve’s policy independence.

Snip...

“I have been a fierce critic of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s extreme interest rate hikes and lack of transparency, but I have never questioned that it is his job to make those decisions. It would be a serious error for the Trump administration to interfere with the Fed’s independence, as Mr. Bessent has suggested,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement Monday.

snip....

Warren said Bessent’s expertise was “helping rich investors make more money, not cutting costs for families squeezed by corporate profiteering,” but she stopped short of saying she would vote against his nomination.

Snip...

“I do not know if Mr. Bessent will transfer his loyalty from Wall Street investors to America’s workers, but I am willing to work with anyone to advance the interests of working families,” she said.

“I look forward to reviewing the treasury secretary nominee’s record and meeting with him ahead of his confirmation hearing.”

[BumRushDaShow]

3. You missed this part

“I have been a fierce critic of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s extreme interest rate hikes and lack of transparency, but I have never questioned that it is his job to make those decisions. It would be a serious error for the Trump administration to interfere with the Fed’s independence, as Mr. Bessent has suggested,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said in a statement Monday.

[maxsolomon]

5. "Try and stop me"

-Scott Bessent