Elizabeth Warren: Jerome Powell wants to ‘put millions out of work’ to fight inflation

Senator Elizabeth Warren ripped into Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell on Sunday, accusing the appointed president of wanting to put millions out of work to fight inflation by continuing to raise interest rates.

“He has a dual mandate. Yes, he’s responsible for managing inflation, but he’s also responsible for jobs,” the Massachusetts Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And what President Powell is trying to do — and he said it quite explicitly is that they’re actually trying to slow down the economy so that, by the Fed’s own estimate, 2 million people will lose their jobs. is not what the chairman of the Federal Reserve should be doing.”

Another quarter-point hike in interest rates, or 0.25%, is on the table as the administration continues to try to dampen record inflation amid a potential banking crisis.

The Fed has limited options to rein in rising prices, one of which is to raise interest rates.

“All it does, at least the way the president wants to do it, is put millions of people out of work,” Ms. Warren said.