On Wednesday’s episode of CNN’s “The Lead,” with Jake Tapper, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called for the ousting of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, claiming that he is intentionally steering the U.S. economy towards a recession.
While discussing Powell’s decision to increase interest rates, anchor Jake Tapper asked Senator Warren, “Have you ever personally advised President Biden to dismiss Jerome Powell from his post as chairman?”
She replied, “So, I’m not going to talk about private conversations, but what I will say is I made it very clear as publicly as humanly possible that I didn’t think that he should be reconfirmed as chair of the Fed. And I think he’s doing a really terrible job.”
Tapper posed the question, “Do you believe that the United States is on the verge of a recession?”
To which, Warren responded, “I believe that is precisely where Jerome Powell is attempting to steer us.”
Tapper asked, “Are you suggesting that he is intentionally attempting to drive the country into a recession?”
Warren replied, “Well, what he’s trying to do is get two million people laid off. And one of the things that we need to understand, he wants to raise the unemployment rate by more than a point within a single 12-month period. We have done that before in this country. In fact, we have done it 12 times before. And out of all 12 times. How many times has it resulted in a recession? The answer is 12. That is the direction he is trying to push this. That is a danger to our economy. It’s why I said five years ago I think he’s a dangerous man to have in this job.”
A recession is guaranteed this year based on Jerome Powell's favorite bond-market indicator.
The Fed Chairman has previously touted the predictive power of the spread between the 3-month Treasury bill and their expected yield in 18 months. https://t.co/UMSvqzxhuK
— Phil Rosen (@philrosenn) March 23, 2023
On Sunday’s episode of Meet the Press, on NBC, Warren criticized Powell’s handling of national bank regulations contending that he “took a flamethrower” to banking regulations following the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, resulting in bank CEOs having the freedom to recklessly dismantle their companies.
She said, “Jerome Powell just took a flamethrower to the regulations, weakened them, weakened them, weakened dozens of the regulations and then the CEOs of the banks did exactly what we expected. They loaded up on risk that boosted their short-term profits, they gave themselves huge bonuses and salaries and exploded their banks.”
Elizabeth Warren blasts Fed chair Jerome Powell, says he 'took a flamethrower' to banking regulations https://t.co/j3unc3GlmI
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 20, 2023
NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Warren if she thought President Biden should take action to remove Powell from his position as Fed chairman.
She replied, “Look, I don’t think he should be chairman of the Federal Reserve. I have said it as publicly as I know how to say it. I’ve said it to everyone.”
