00:00Look, Donald Trump has launched three assaults on the independence of the Fed.
00:06First, he said he was going to fire Jerome Powell.
00:11Then he got really interested in how much money Powell had authorized for rehabilitating and refurbishing the Fed Reserve buildings.
00:22And now, on a pretext, he...
00:30And nobody's fooled. We all know why he's doing this.
00:37It's so that he can seize control of the Fed and understand.
00:42I see this whether we have a Democrat or a Republican in the White House.
00:47Independence of the Fed, having a bunch of economists, even when I disagree with them, I defend them.
00:53So their independence and their efforts to make decisions based on what's really happening in the economy,
01:00not what the politics are, is something that benefits every single American.
01:06Donald Trump wants to burn that to the brain.
01:08Senator, can you speak to the role that FHPA Director Bill Pulte is playing in this whole thing?
01:14He's throwing a lot of allegations at a lot of Democrats about mortgage fraud and beyond.
01:18What do you make of Pulte's role in this?
01:20So, look, Pulte clearly is not interested in his day job over in housing
01:29and instead is using his position to try to rifle through records
01:36to see if he can go through Donald Trump's hit list
01:39and find some people that he might or might not be able to cause trouble
01:45by any part of this.
01:50This is a smear campaign from a political attack dog.
01:55And anyone who's been feeding that attack dog, you don't need to be feeding that attack dog.
02:08Look, this shouldn't be just Democrats who should say no.
02:12This is something Republicans should say no to.
02:18Understand the importance of independence of the Fed.
02:20In fact, go back and check their own statements in years past for many of them.
02:25They have talked about the importance of the independence of the Fed.
02:29Look, we can all try to persuade the Fed.
02:32We can say, look at these data, look at those data, look what's happening with jobs.
02:37That's fair game.
02:38But what Donald Trump wants to do is he wants to control the Fed.
02:42He wants to fire the people who disagree with him
02:44and then have people put in their places
02:48who will just bend the deed at Donald Trump
02:50and say whatever he wants them to say.
02:53In countries where that has been tried in the past,
02:58it basically blows up the economy.
03:00Because not only can no one believe the numbers,
03:04people start making their business decisions differently.
03:06No longer are business decisions based on,
03:09okay, here's where I think things are going in the economy.
03:11I think there'll be a good market for this.
03:13Instead, it's who's got political juice and who doesn't.
03:17And when you start making political juice decisions,
03:20you really do tear up the real heart of our economy.
03:24Is there any maneuver, though, that Democrats can do unilaterally?
03:27Because have you gotten that assurance from the chairman?
03:29We need Republicans.
03:31We need Republicans.
03:34In the Senate to stand up and say,
03:37we're not going to grease the skids
03:39for Donald Trump's takeover of the Fed.
03:42Today's hearing is about greasing those skids,
03:45and it should occur.
03:47Senator Secretary Besson is starting interviews this week
03:49for the next Fed chairman.
03:51What do you look for in the next Fed chairman?
03:52What do you make of them starting this process in September?
03:55Look, I look for three things.
03:56Independence, independence, and independence
03:58at this moment in time.
04:01I also would like to see someone
04:03who on monetary policy
04:06reminds everyone that his job is a dual job
04:10to make sure that both inflation is kept low
04:14and that jobs are fully supported.
04:17I also want to see someone
04:19who actually believes in regulatory oversight.
04:22Now, understand,
04:23I have argued with Jerome Powell
04:26on every one of those points pretty vigorously.
04:30Some people might say,
04:31I did not hold back.
04:32But that does not mean
04:35that I think the president
04:36should be able to put a lackey in
04:39at the Federal Reserve
04:41to do whatever the president wants.
04:43And I would say exactly the same thing
04:45if we were talking about a Democratic president.
04:47We have one more question.
04:48Sorry, guys.
04:49Sarah Tillich said yesterday
04:50that he would not support
04:52trying to replace Lisa Cook
04:53until the legal decision is finished.
04:55Do you think that that really gives you guys a leg up
04:57to be able to block that?
04:58Yes, I appreciate that,
04:59and that is a good first start.
05:00I think quickly,
05:01I know Tim Cook,
05:03one of his Mark Zuckerberg
05:04at the White House tonight
05:05for a dinner with President Trump.
05:06What do you make of all these tech leaders
05:07coming to meet with the president?
05:08Look, this is government
05:09that works for billionaires,
05:11but not for everyone else.
05:12What did Donald Trump promise on day one?
05:15That he would lower costs
05:17for people all across this country.
05:19And here we are on day 225,
05:24and costs are up,
05:27costs are up, costs are up,
05:28costs are up.
05:29And what's Donald Trump doing?
05:31Hosting a dinner
05:32for a handful of billionaires.
05:34Donald Trump makes clear
05:35who he wants this government to work for.
05:38I think the government ought to work
05:39for the American people.
05:39I'm sorry, I've got to run.
05:41I've got to go to the end of my case.
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