Woech Hearing Highlights: Denies Promising Trump Rate Cuts, Rants at a Fed That’s Lost Its Way, and Gets Called a “Puppet”

Odaily Planet Daily News reports: The Federal Reserve Chair nominee handpicked by Trump, Wush, went all out at the confirmation hearing, firing on all cylinders: he refused to answer whether Trump lost the election, was rebuked by Warren as a “puppet”; he then fired back at the Federal Reserve, saying it had “lost its way and is meddling in politics”; he also repeatedly denied having promised the president low interest rates. In an article, Nick Timiraos, who is known as the “mouthpiece of the Federal Reserve,” wrote that in her opening statement, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren characterized Wush both as Trump’s “puppet” and an opportunist, but Warren’s argument is that a Fed chair who is too afraid to even acknowledge a simple fact—one that could displease a president who would be unhappy with any statement—that person will not step forward to confront that president at a critical moment. This theme runs through the entire hearing, with Democrats returning to it multiple times.

Wush also said that the Federal Reserve needs “fundamental policy reform,” including a new inflation framework, new tools, and new ways of conveying information. Although Wush avoided Trump’s public attacks on the Federal Reserve, he repeatedly denied to senators from both parties that Trump had sought any commitments regarding interest rates. “The president has never asked me to pre-decide, promise, determine, or decide on any interest rate decision, in any of our discussions, and I would never agree to do so.” (WSJ)