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00:00 Speaker A
President Trump making his first comments about Kevin Warsh after announcing his nomination to replace Fed chair Jerome Powell. Fed correspondent Jennifer Schonberger, here with more. Jen.
00:09 Speaker B
Hey there, Josh. That’s right. President Trump weighing in this afternoon for the first time on his nominee to be the next Fed chair, Kevin Warsh.
00:20 Speaker B
The president was asked in the Oval office by reporters whether Warsh would commit to him to pushing through interest rate cuts if confirmed. The president said, no, he did not ask him about that.
00:33 Speaker C
I’ve been following them and I don’t want to ask him that question. I think it’s inappropriate, probably, probably would be allowed, but I want to keep it nice and pure. but he certainly wants to cut rates. I’ve been watching him for a long time.
00:47 Speaker B
When asked whether he has concerns about Warsh’s historically hawkish stance, the president said at times, he too has been in favor of raising rates when it’s appropriate.
00:58 Speaker B
Now, the president said he wanted to keep National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett as one of his top economic advisors, saying that he does quote, a fantastic job.
01:08 Speaker B
The President also brushed off questions about whether he had concerns about getting Warsh confirmed by the Senate, given that Republican Senator Tom Tillis has vowed to block any nomination of the president’s until the criminal investigation into current Fed chair J. Powell is resolved.
01:25 Speaker B
Now, if Warsh is confirmed, he will face a divided Fed at a time when this 19 member committee is setting up for a pause in rate cuts.
01:40 Speaker B
Underscoring that just today, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said he thinks that rates currently in this range of 3 and a half to 3 and 3/4 percent are already at neutral, a level designed to neither spur nor slow economic growth.
01:58 Speaker B
Musalem saying that given that the inflation rate is above the Fed’s 2% goal still, he does not favor cutting rates further at this point. He thinks it would put the Fed into accommodative territory.
02:12 Speaker B
On the flip side, we also heard from Fed Governor Chris Waller who was out with a statement as to why he dissented at this week’s policy meeting, preferring to cut rates by a quarter percentage point rather than holding rates steady.
02:29 Speaker B
And again, Waller citing concerns about weakness in the job market and the Fed needing to shore that up further.
02:37 Speaker B
Needless to say that analysts say that if Warsh is confirmed, he will have a lot of convincing to do for this 19 member committee. Josh.
02:45 Speaker A
Jen, thank you.