During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) questioned Fed Chair Jerome Powell about his meetings with President Biden and potential rate cuts and Rep. Al Green (D-TX) fired back at his line of questioning.
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NewsTranscript
00:00We now go to the gentleman from New York, Mr. Lawler, who is recognized for five minutes.
00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman Powell, to the best of my knowledge, the last public meeting
00:08between you and President Biden occurred on May 31st, 2022. Does that sound accurate?
00:15I'm going to take your word for it.
00:17Okay. Have you had any private meetings with the president since that time?
00:22No.
00:22Any phone calls with the president?
00:24I don't believe so.
00:25Is there any reason why you've not met with or spoken to the president?
00:30I mean, I meet with any president calls. You come and you meet, but that hasn't happened.
00:38So in over two years, with inflation still nagging us, with cost out of control,
00:45President Biden has not asked to meet with you in over two years?
00:50I haven't had a meeting with him. He hasn't sought a meeting. And of course,
00:53I don't seek meetings. So you have the data.
00:56But to your knowledge, in the last two years,
00:58you've not spoken with or met with the president at all?
01:01He shook his hand in a line once, but that wasn't a conversation. It was just,
01:06Mr. President, that was it. It was at a state dinner. I attended a state dinner
01:12a few months ago, and I shook his hand. Good evening, Mr. President. And that was it.
01:17Does that not strike you as odd that the president has not sought to meet with you?
01:22Not at all. Not at all. You weren't in an agency.
01:26And Mr. Chairman, parliamentary inquiry, please, Mr. Chairman.
01:33I'm sorry, I want to answer your state your inquiry.
01:38Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I make a point of order under Clause 4 of Rule 17,
01:46that the gentleman's words are disorderly and violate the rules of decorum
01:51and debate insofar as they are negatively reflecting upon the personality
01:56of a candidate for President of the United States.
02:02The Congressman is not engaged in any personality or in any, has questioned anything about
02:10anyone at this point. I'm not sure where you're going, Congressman.
02:15Congressman is recognized. Thank you.
02:17Mr. Chairman, I'm happy to answer your question.
02:20Thank you.
02:20Mr. Chairman, I'd like to continue with a point of order.
02:25What is your point of order?
02:27Mr. Chairman, we have been admonished in this committee that we should not
02:33have words that negatively reflect upon persons who are running for president.
02:38This would include Mr. Trump, as well as the current president.
02:43Didn't the ranking member do a whole opening monologue
02:46about some ridiculous project?
02:48Would you please rule my friend out of order, Mr. Chairman, until you rule?
02:53Mr. Lawler has not admonished or said anything negative about the president at all.
02:59I just listened to his comments.
03:01So I'm going to recognize the Congressman again, Mr. Lawler from New York.
03:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
03:07Mr. Powell, you were trying to answer my question.
03:10So we're an independent agency.
03:13The administration has been very respectful of the Fed and not,
03:20you know, wanting to try to influence and things like that.
03:23And I don't find it at all unusual.
03:26You know, I've been at the Fed for my 13th year, and I think there can go by
03:30long periods of time when the Fed chair doesn't meet with the president.
03:33And that's totally fine.
03:35Okay.
03:38Since you made mention of the independence of the Fed,
03:42and I know you pride yourself in that independence,
03:45do you acknowledge or do members of the FOMC acknowledge
03:50that a rate cut in September could be viewed as political
03:55just 30 to 60 days before an election?
03:58So our undertaking is to make decisions when and as they need to be made
04:06based on the data, the incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks,
04:11and not in consideration of other factors.
04:13And that would include political factors.
04:16We will make those decisions.
04:17We have a long history of doing that, including during election years.
04:22And that is the undertaking we'll make.
04:24Anything we do will be very well grounded.
04:27And, you know, it's just not appropriate for us to get into the business
04:33of thinking about election cycles at all, one way or the other.
04:38So inflation year over year from May 2023 to May 2024 is up 3.3% overall inflation.
04:50Energy inflation is up 3.7%.
04:53Food inflation up 2.1%.
04:58With inflation continuing to be a challenge,
05:00do you see a rate cut as a possibility at this moment?
05:05So I think you're quoting the CPI numbers,
05:07which are operating at an unusually high gap to the PCE.
05:13For 25 years, the Fed has focused on personal consumption expenditures inflation,
05:18PCE inflation.
05:19And usually the gap to CPI is only 25 or 30 basis points.
05:23It's more now.
05:24So the PCE numbers, the current PCE numbers are 2.6% for headline, 2.6% for core.
05:32And we've articulated for a good long period our test
05:37for being willing to consider beginning to loosen policy.
05:41And that test is that we want to be more confident
05:45that inflation is moving on a path sustainably down to 2%,
05:49not at 2%, but on a path sustainably to 2%.
05:53That's the test we've articulated.
05:55I have some confidence, as I said earlier, that we are on a downward path.
06:00I think if you look at the data, it's pretty clear.
06:03But we have not said, though, that we have sufficient confidence.
06:06And that will be a decision that our committee makes.
06:10Yeah.
06:10I would just note, obviously, CPI, the price of goods, the price of purchasing a home,
06:18the price of a mortgage, the cost of a mortgage has been astronomical.
06:22In Westchester County, for instance, where I represent,
06:25the average mortgage cost is up $1,000 a month, over $12,000 a year.
06:33In the time I have remaining, quick question.
06:35In your meetings with the president, have you noticed any mental or cognitive decline?
06:41No.
06:42Thank you.
06:43I yield back.
06:44Point of order.
06:45Gentleman's time has expired.
06:47Gentleman from Texas.
06:47Point of order, Mr. Chairman.
06:49Point of order.
06:50Yes, Mr. Chairman.
06:51The gentleman just mentioned the president's cognitive capacity.
06:55And I believe this to be a violation of the rules with relationship to decorum.
07:02And that this goes into a personality of a president.
07:07Gentleman's time has expired.
07:08You're recognized now for your five minutes, Mr. Green.
07:11My point of order is to be made immediately after the gentleman's statement.
07:16And that's what I'm doing.
07:20I would remind members not to engage in personalities and comments about the president.
07:25Mr. Chairman, if I may, with my point of order, I demand that the gentleman's words be taken down
07:30insofar as they negatively reflect upon a candidate for president of the United States.
07:48Gentleman from New York, Mr. Lawler is recognized.
07:51I'll happily withdraw my words, though everybody understood them.
07:58Mr. Chairman.
08:00Gentleman withdraws his comments.
08:02I find his final, if I may, Mr. Chairman, his final comment was, although everybody understood
08:09them, in my opinion, that then brings us right back to where we were before he made his attempt
08:16to withdraw.
08:17Now, if he's willing to withdraw appropriately, I will not demand.
08:22But until he does so, I demand that his words be taken down.
08:25The gentleman's time had expired.
08:29Mr. Chairman, the time does not expire on the request that I've made.
08:35The point of order.
08:36The time didn't expire on that.
08:40I recognize Mr. Lawler.
08:41Let the record reflect.
08:42I withdraw my words.
08:45Thank you, Mr. Chairman.