Lisa Blunt Rochester Decries 'Intentional Smear Campaign' From Trump Admin Against Fed's Lisa Cook

3 months ago

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) questioned President Donald Trump's nominee for Fed Board of Governors Stephen Miran about attacks on the Fed's independence.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to the nominees. Dr. Myron, in your testimony,

00:08you spoke about the independence of the Federal Open Market Committee. You also said that the

00:15independence of monetary policy is critical. So I'd like to begin with a yes or no question as

00:22well. Do you believe the Federal Reserve should remain an independent entity? Yes or no?

00:28Thank you, Senator. As I said in my opening statement, the independence of the Federal

00:33Reserve is critical to delivering superior long run outcomes for the economy. So that's a yes.

00:38Yes. And I'm really glad to hear this, especially since you've said on the record, quote,

00:43I've always been clear that the independence of the Fed is of paramount importance. During this

00:49hearing, senators on both sides of the aisle have spoken to the independence and independence from

00:57political influence of the Fed. And literally almost every person, almost everyone, Democrats

01:04and Republicans have spoken to that. So this shouldn't be a controversial opinion. Yet in the

01:10past eight months, this administration has tried time and time again to exert more influence over

01:17the Federal Reserve, an independent agency. Here are a few headlines from news articles that I'll be

01:26submitting for the record. From Forbes, Trump might greenlight major lawsuit against Fed Chair Jerome

01:33Powell. NPR, Trump floats firing the Federal Reserve Chair as White House criticism boils. From the Wall

01:42Street Journal, uncharted waters, Trump's attempt to take charge of the Fed. From CBS News, Trump's

01:50unprecedented firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook raises untested questions. Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous

01:57consent to submit these articles for the record. Mr. Chairman, ask unanimous consent. The president has

02:06tried and failed to fire Chairman Powell. So now he's on to his latest target, Governor Lisa Cook. She is

02:14currently confronting what appears to be an intentional smear campaign and attempted firing. She has and has

02:22continued to serve our country admirably. Ranking member Warren referenced Nixon. But to my knowledge, in the

02:31111 year history of the Fed, no president has attempted to influence the Fed so blatantly and egregiously as our

02:39current president. Dr. Cook is a Truman scholar, a Marshall scholar, graduate of Spelman College, went on to

02:48Oxford. Her body of work is a direct rebuke of the failed promises of trickle down economics. And it's not

02:56lost on me that she is the only and first ever black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

03:05First Chairman Powell, now Governor Cook. Who's next? Many of my colleagues have spoken to Dr. Myron's

03:17potential conflict of still being employed by the White House and potentially serving on the Fed Board.

03:24Even in the questioning about whether or not, what are some of the qualifications? What are the powers that the

03:32president has? One of the things that you said, Mr. Myron, is I have no legal training on the issue around

03:40removal of Fed governors. But that didn't prevent you from writing a 25-page document that talked about

03:48that exact topic. The bottom line, the strength of our economy relies on an independent Federal Reserve.

03:56And Americans rely on a strong economy to afford the basic goods and services needed to survive and

04:03thrive. I hope that I can count on my colleagues to voice all of the collective support for a Federal

04:12Reserve Board to stay strong and do that amongst or against any of the president's attacks on this

04:20independent operation. I, again, am very concerned for where we're going as a country when there aren't

04:30those checks and balances. And again, my colleagues across the aisle all spoke pretty much unanimously to

04:40the independence of this agency. And so I look forward to seeing us put our proverbial money where our mouth is.

04:49Thank you. And I yield back. Senator Van Hollen. Thank you.

Lisa Blunt Rochester Decries 'Intentional Smear Campaign' From Trump Admin Against Fed's Lisa Cook

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