Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) on Sunday accused Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell of using a “flamethrower” to regulate banks during the Trump administration.
“Donald Trump ran for president saying he would deregulate these banks,” Warren said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And Jerome Powell literally used a flamethrower against these regulations, making them less and less effective.”
Powell and the Fed have shocked the banking industry after receiving harsh criticism after the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed earlier this month. Many liberals have pointed to Mr. Powell’s time as central bank governor as a period of rapid deregulation.
Powell was appointed president of the Fed by former President Trump in 2018. Under his leadership, the central bank withdrew several major regulatory measures, including the removal of some of the tools in the groundbreaking Dodd his Frank banking reform package passed following monetary policy in 2008. Did. economic crisis. With the help of Congress, the Federal Reserve has reduced the number of banks subject to oversight by the stronger federal government.
Mr. Powell was then re-elected by President Biden early last year, and some progressive Democrats, including Mr. Warren, opposed the decision to give Mr. Powell another term at the helm of the Fed.
“Jerome Powell said he only wants banks to be deregulated,” Warren told CBS. “That’s exactly why I opposed him as chairman of the Federal Reserve.”
And as federal officials continue to navigate the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and its ramifications, Warren has called for accountability from both regulators and bank executives.
“We need accountability to regulators who have clearly failed at their job, and it starts with Jerome Powell,” Warren said. “And we need accountability to the executives of these big financial institutions.”
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