US President Joe Biden used a rare meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to declare that he respects the independence of the central bank – while shifting responsibility from him for taming the highest inflation for decades before midterms in November.
Biden has been trying to show that he is doing his best to curb the biggest inflation in 40 years as the midterm approaches this November, when Democrats risk losing their slim majority in Congress.
Biden’s handling of Powell contrasts sharply with that of former President Donald Trump who has been highly critical of Powell over the Fed’s interest rate decisions, and even threatened to fire him.
The Biden-Powell meeting is the first since the US Senate approved Powell’s second term in office earlier this month. And it seems that the crucial message that Biden wanted to send to Powell is that he plans to stay out of his way, as if telling him to “go and do what you want to do” to curb inflation.
Powell was subjected to a lot of criticism, which blamed him for not acting quickly to curb inflation, and considering it temporary.
After the meeting, the director of the White House National Economic Council, Brian Dacey, said that the president assured Fed Chairman Powell during the meeting that he had been stressing, including today, that he respected the independence of the Fed, describing the meeting as “very constructive.” .
Biden
In brief comments ahead of the meeting, Biden said he was meeting with Powell and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to “discuss my top priority…which is tackling inflation.”
He added that his plan to deal with inflation “begins with a simple proposal: respect the Federal Reserve… respect the independence of the Federal Reserve, which I did and will continue to do.”
He explained that his role as president is to give the Federal Reserve “the space it needs to do its job,” adding, “I will not interfere with its critically important work.”
The Fed has already raised interest rates by 75 basis points this year as part of its fight to bring down inflation.
Most monetary policy makers at the US central bank say they expect it to continue raising interest rates until they reach about 2.5 percent by the end of this year, and beyond if necessary.
The planned rate increases include a 50 basis points increase at both the June 15 and July Fed meetings.
