Buckeye Reporter

At a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing in Washington, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) questioned Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about his public stance on trade policy and interest rates. Moreno focused on what he described as Powell's ongoing criticism of former President Donald Trump’s tariffs while not addressing other economic factors.

“We got elected by millions of voters, you got elected by one person and he doesn’t want to be in that job. You are costing this government $400 billion per year by refusing to lower interest rates. Nobody in this chamber has that kind of power, to have a $400 billion impact on this economy, on our deficit. And I just think that you should consider whether you’re really looking at this from a fiscal lens or a political lens because you just don’t like tariffs,” said Senator Moreno.

During the hearing, Moreno noted that Powell had repeatedly raised concerns about the inflationary effects of Trump-era tariffs but had not made similar comments regarding other policies such as pandemic-related lockdowns, the Biden administration’s ban on liquid natural gas exports, or recent tax increases enacted by Democrats.

Moreno also referenced a letter he recently sent to Powell urging the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. He cited President Trump’s record on reducing inflation despite skepticism from some economic experts.