Warren Calls On Fed To PAUSE THIS – Will They Do It?

(DailyVantage.com) – Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. Mass.) stepped in a hornets nest with Senate Republicans following a letter written to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to not follow through on an impending interest rate hike expected May 3, 2023 by a quarter point.

Sen. Warren was not alone calling on the Fed to halt rate hikes, other prominent lawmakers joined Warren’s concern such as Sen Pramila Jayapal (D. Wa.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D. Vt.) saying the monetary policy has the “potential to throw millions of Americans out of work,” and the Fed should “avoid engineering a recession.”

The letter sent to Fed Chair Powell on Monday May 1, 2023 was signed by Warren and nine additional members of the House and Senate.

Sen. Mike Braun (R. Ind.) disagreed with Sen. Warren’s assesment, and claimed that policies enacted by the Biden administration have come “home to roost” and suggests they will have to swallow their own medicine, “including the worst inflation we’ve had in 40 years.”

Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R. Okla.) and Eric Schmitt (R. Mo.) confirm the sentiment that White House policies pushing green energy regulations and slowing fossil fuel production has created the turbulence now evident in the current economy. The senators claim that reversing green energy policies and going “back to energy independence” is the right way forward to a more lasting solution, rather than calling on the Fed, an independent agency, to halt its work.

If the Federal Reserve does indeed hike the interest rate it will be the 10th consecutive hike during the unprecedented inflation that has hovered over the Biden presidency and Americans since Biden’s inauguration.

The ten lawmakers that signed onto the letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the aggressive rate hikes are “difficult to justify” given that inflation has declined over the last six months from 6.4% to 3.6% and wage growth has slowed. The letter says evidence of progress lowering inflation can continue “without slamming the brakes on the economy” and disrupting the labor market.