Svmuu News: Warsh, Trump’s handpicked nominee for Federal Reserve Chair, went on the offensive during his confirmation hearing: he refused to answer whether Trump had lost the election and was angrily denounced by Warren as a “puppet”; She then lashed out at the Fed for being “off course and playing politics,” and repeatedly denied having promised the president low interest rates. Nick Timiraos, known as the “voice of the Fed,” wrote that Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, in her opening statement, characterized Warsh as both Trump’s “puppet” and an opportunist, but Warren’s argument was that a Fed chair who does not even dare to state the simple fact that his nomination might displease the president who nominated him will not stand up to that president at a critical moment. This theme ran throughout the hearing, and Democrats returned to it repeatedly.
Warsh also stated that the Fed needs “fundamental policy reform,” including a new inflation framework, new tools, and new ways of communicating. Although Warsh sidestepped Trump’s public attacks on the Fed, he repeatedly denied to senators from both parties that Trump had ever sought any commitments regarding interest rates. “The president has never asked me to predetermine, commit to, fix, or decide any interest rate decision—not in any of our discussions—and I would never agree to do so.” (WSJ)