{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/as-trump-seeks-to-install-his-chief-economist-stephen-miran-on-fed-board-reed-warns-feds-loss-of-independence-is-a-serious-threat-to-us-economy", "As Trump Seeks to Install His Chief Economist Stephen Miran on Fed Board, Reed Warns Fed\u2019s Loss of Independence is a Serious Threat to U.S. Economy", "2025-09-15", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", "jackreed", "https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a leading member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, urged his Senate colleagues to vote against Dr. Stephen Miran\u2019s nomination to be a Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and warned that President Trump\u2019s assault on the Fed\u2019s independence could have devastating economic consequences for all Americans. Text of Senator Reed\u2019s remarks follow and video is available here:\n\nSEN. REED: Mr. President, I rise in opposition to President Trump\u2019s nomination of Stephen Miran to be a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board.\n\nThe Federal Reserve is among the most important economic institutions in the world. Simply put, it is authorized to create money and determine the cost of that money by setting interest rates, all with a goal of achieving maximum employment and stable prices.\n\nWhen its seven Board members have a degree of protection from political interference, then the Fed is better able to contribute to sound economic policy for the Nation. That\u2019s because they have freedom to make tough decisions that may not be favored by the White House but that are necessary to achieve its dual mandate.\n\nIt is unfortunate that Dr. Miran demonstrated at his nomination hearing that he is a political partisan and that he will be President Trump\u2019s man at the Fed.\n\nAs if to emphasize the point, Dr. Miran intends to perform this job while \u201con leave\u201d from his current position as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House. In other words, he will be keeping his job as the President\u2019s chief economic adviser while being able to vote on interest rates.\n\nAn architect of Trump\u2019s tariffs -- which have stoked inflation and under which American families and businesses are suffering every single day -- Dr. Miran will now have one foot in the Fed and his other foot in the White House.\n\nSomeone with this atrocious track record -- someone who has been a hardcore proponent of Trump\u2019s policies that raise costs on everyday goods, that debase and devalue the dollar, that are based on unconstitutional notions that executive power has no limits -- does not deserve a second job that comes with additional levers to damage the economy.\n\nSo I will be voting no on Dr. Miran based on his track record and qualifications.\n\nI will also be voting no because he will be making a mockery of the law by refusing to relinquish his White House job.\n\nThe Federal Reserve Act says that \u201cThe members of the Board shall devote their entire time to the business of the Board.\u201d This means quite simply that Dr. Miran can have no contact with the White House whatsoever while at the Fed. In other words, there must be very strong firewalls separating Miran\u2019s Fed duties from his White House duties.\n\nThose firewalls will not work for this President, who demands that his advisors serve his own personal interests, who demands total fealty, and who acts as if he is above the law.\n\nThose firewalls will not work for this agency because Trump is obsessed with browbeating the Fed into submission. He routinely demands that the Fed cut rates from 4.25% to 1%. He has tried to intimidate Chair Powell\u2014a Republican whom Trump first appointed\u2026calling him a \u201closer,\u201d \u201cstupid,\u201d \u201ccorrupt,\u201d and \u201cincompetent\u201d because he won\u2019t do exactly what Trump wants.\n\nTraditional firewalls will not work for this nominee. As the President\u2019s chief economist, Dr. Miran will almost certainly pick up the phone if Trump calls. He will be reading Trump\u2019s social media posts. He has every incentive to do Trump's bidding so he can return to his White House job. In the unlikely event that Dr. Miran acts independently, then Trump can oust him from the CEA.\n\nMost troubling, Dr. Miran has testified that he has received advice from White House lawyers blessing this arrangement. This kind of self-certification is dubious at best, but Dr. Miran has failed to produce it. That\u2019s why I joined Ranking Member Warren and several of our Banking Committee colleagues in demanding that Dr. Miran share this analysis. As is typical with this Administration, he did not even respond to our request.\n\nDr. Miran\u2019s stonewalling can only be read as a concession that this is a corrupt bargain.\n\nCritical questions remain unanswered because of Dr. Miran\u2019s contempt of the Banking Committee, his evasion of our questions, and his refusal to provide details about this fraught proposal to retain his White House job while at the Fed. He must be straightforward and honest about how he intends to do this job. And he must acknowledge the reality that the President will have enormous influence and leverage over him. We must have answers before the Senate votes on his nomination.\n\nI will also be voting no because Dr. Miran has shown exceptionally poor integrity in this confirmation process.\n\nHe tweeted in 2023 that no person \u201con the planet can go from highly political operative to politically neutral just because he or she gets a promotion. That\u2019s just not how human beings work.\u201d He said this during the Biden Administration, when a Fed Governor resigned to become an economic advisor to the President in the White House. Dr. Miran himself now wants to move between the Fed and the White House. Under Dr. Miran\u2019s own standard, he would need to violate the laws of physics to be capable of acting independently.\n\nJust last year, Dr. Miran wrote a 25-page paper proposing an overhaul of the structure and governance of the Fed. In that paper, he wrote that \u201cshort-circuiting the revolving door between the Fed and the executive branch is critical to reducing the incentives for officials to act in the short-term political interests of the president.\u201d Yet he is now racing through this revolving door.\n\nHe called for specific reforms to shut this revolving door. Those reforms include prohibiting any Governor from returning to the executive branch for four years; removing the \u201cfor cause\u201d removal protections for Governors; and the current President voluntarily refraining from removing any incumbent Board members or Reserve Bank leaders during his term.\n\nAt his confirmation hearing, Dr. Miran didn\u2019t even try to stand by these proposals. He testified that this \u201cproposal was a package deal. It was a suite of checks and balances, and it\u2019s highly inappropriate to take one check or balance outside the context of the overall package.\u201d\n\nDr. Miran badly mischaracterized his own work. In his paper, Dr. Miran never said that these proposals as a \u201cpackage deal\u201d or that they must be implemented in an all-or-nothing manner. To the contrary, he wrote that this \u201cproposal can be implemented in a piecemeal fashion, one policy at a time, if legislatively easier.\u201d\n\nThis nominee is asking for the American people\u2019s trust to set the Nation\u2019s credit and monetary policy.\n\nBy misleading the Banking Committee, he has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted with that responsibility.\n\nLike so many of this Administration\u2019s nominees, Dr. Miran knew that standing by his previous views would take him out of the running. So he disavowed them to avoid getting crosswise with Trump, who wants to get his man confirmed to the Fed today -- which happens to be the day before the Fed\u2019s next meeting to vote on interest rates.\n\nTrump's former economics advisor Larry Kudlow said the quiet part out loud on a podcast last week. He said, \u201cThe bottom line is: Trump is going to take over the Fed.\u201d\n\nDr. Miran\u2019s appointment is a critical piece of Trump's hostile takeover along with the attempted ouster of Governor Cook and the disgusting attacks on Chair Powell. When the Fed becomes controlled by Trump\u2019s yes-men, it won\u2019t speak with enough authority to achieve its mandate. Inflation will get out of control and higher prices will persist. Rates on credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages will go up. Working Americans will be asked to pay more to finance our Nation\u2019s enormous and growing public debt. This outcome is unacceptable when millions of Americans are struggling to cover increased costs for everyday expenses.\n\nI would like to close by quoting former Republican Senator Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania, who ably served as the Ranking Member of the Banking Committee. In 2021, he spoke against one of President Biden\u2019s nominees to the Federal Reserve and said, \u201cThe American people deserve a serious nominee who will serve without a political agenda. It is exceptionally important to keep politics out of monetary policy.\u201d\n\nApplying Senator Toomey\u2019s principles, Dr. Miran has not demonstrated his ability to \u201cserve without a political agenda.\u201d He has not demonstrated that he is a \u201cserious nominee.\u201d And he has not demonstrated that he \u201cwill serve without a political agenda.\u201d\n\nInstead, he has demonstrated his loyalty to Trump and thumbed his nose at the Senate. He has already compromised his independence through his plan to hold on to his White House position.\n\nI urge my colleagues to vote against this nominee.\n\nThank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/as-trump-seeks-to-install-his-chief-economist-stephen-miran-on-fed-board-reed-warns-feds-loss-of-independence-is-a-serious-threat-to-us-economy"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.7365819551050663, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}