Sen. Elizabeth Warren lashed out at Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell on Sunday, accusing the president’s appointee of wanting to put millions out of work to fight inflation by continuing to raise interest rates.
“He has a dual mandate. Yes, he’s responsible for fighting inflation, but he’s also responsible for employment,” the Massachusetts Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And what Chairman Powell is trying to do — and he’s been pretty clear about that — is they’re trying to essentially slow down the economy so that, according to the Fed’s own estimate, 2 million people are going to lose their jobs. And I don’t think that’s what the chairman of the Federal Reserve should be doing.”
Another interest rate hike of a quarter point, or 0.25%, is planned as the administration continues to try to tame record inflation amid a potential banking crisis.
The Fed has limited options to curb inflation, one of which is to raise interest rates.
“All he’s doing, at least the way the chairman wants to do it, is putting millions of people out of work,” Ms Warren said.
