Biden breaks with Trump and says he'll stick up for Federal Reserve's independence
- Biden said he wanted to break with Trump in sticking up for the Federal Reserve’s independence.
- “I want to be real clear that I’m not going to do the kinds of things that have been done in the last administration,” Biden said.
- While he was in office, Trump pressured Fed Chair Powell against raising interest rates.
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President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he would safeguard the independence of the Federal Reserve, breaking with his predecessor, Donald Trump, who often tried pressuring the central bank to lower the cost of borrowing.
“Starting off my presidency, I want to be real clear that I’m not going to do the kinds of things that have been done in the last administration — either talking to the attorney general about who he’s going to prosecute or not prosecute … or for the Fed, telling them what they should and shouldn’t do,” he said at a White House news conference.
“I think the Federal Reserve is an independent operation,” he said, adding he does speak with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The remarks reflect another way that the president is distancing himself from his predecessor by preserving the Fed’s traditional independence from the White House. Trump heaped criticism onto Powell throughout his term, assailing him as “an enemy of the state” and a “terrible communicator” from his now-suspended Twitter account.
Trump furiously tried pressuring Powell from raising interest rates while the economy was in the middle of its longest expansion in history in the years leading up to the pandemic. At one point, he suggested Powell may be a “bigger enemy” of the US than China.
Powell played a critical role designing the Fed’s stimulus programs as vast swaths of the economy shut down last year. He also encouraged Congress to continue approving more federal aid for struggling individuals, small businesses, and state and local governments.
“Given the low level of interest rates, there’s no issue about the United States being able to service its debt at this time or in the foreseeable future,” he told NPR recently. Powell, a Trump nominee, has also downplayed the inflation risks stemming from the $1.9 trillion stimulus package.
Powell’s term as Fed chair expires in 2022, and Biden must decide whether to keep him onboard.
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