{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-defends-americans-401ks-by-protecting-an-independent-federal-reserve/", "Warnock Defends Americans\u2019 401Ks by Protecting an Independent Federal Reserve", "2025-09-04", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "GA", "Raphael G. Warnock", "W000790", "www.warnock.senate.gov", "warnock", "https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "During a Thursday Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing, Senator Reverend Warnock attacked the President\u2019s attempts to fill the Federal Reserve with \u201cyes men\u201d by illegally firing Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook\n\nDuring the hearing, Senator Warnock highlighted the Federal Reserve Governor nominees\u2019 lack of commitment to the Federal Reserve\u2019s independence, which risks millions of retirement accounts and the health of the U.S. economy\n\nSenator Reverend Warnock during the hearing: \u201cAmerica\u2019s economy is the envy of the world. I think the independence of the Fed is an important part of that, and based on the statements that I have seen so far, I\u2019m convinced that you\u2019re not going to exercise that kind of independence\u201d\n\nWatch Senator Reverend Warnock at Thursday\u2019s hearing HERE\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, defended the importance of an independent Federal Reserve while questioning Dr. Stephen Miran, President Trump\u2019s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors and nominee to serve on the independent Federal Reserve Board. During the hearing, Senator Warnock continued to voice his support of Lisa Cook, a renowned Georgia economist and the first Black woman on the Federal Reserve board. Recently, President Trump attempted to illegally fire Cook to fill the Federal Reserve with \u201cyes men,\u201d which would endanger not only millions of retirement accounts but the health of the entire American economy.\n\n\u201cLisa Cook is a first-rate economist and a Georgian that we\u2019re all very proud of,\u201d said Senator Warnock.\n\nThe hearing was held for the nominations of Dr. Stephen Miran to be a Governor for the Federal Reserve Board, as well as Ben Hobbs and Ronnie Kurtz, to be Assistant Secretaries for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Christopher Pilkerton and Jonathan Burke, to be Assistant Secretaries Department of the Treasury (USDT).\n\nSenator Warnock also used the hearing to highlight Dr. Miran\u2019s failure to commit to the Federal Reserve\u2019s independence.\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s economy is the envy of the world. I think the independence of the Fed is an important part of that, and based on the statements that I have seen so far, I\u2019m convinced that you\u2019re not going to exercise that kind of independence,\u201d said Senator Warnock. \u201cI think you\u2019re conflicted in this role, that you would be a mouthpiece and a proxy vote on the Fed board for President Trump, if you were confirmed, and I find that deeply alarming and concerning, as I think about the retirement accounts of people of Georgia, as well as the strength of our overall economy.\u201d\n\nWatch the Senator\u2019s full remarks and line of questioning HERE.\n\nSee below transcript of the key exchange between Senator Warnock and Dr. Stephen Miran:\n\nSenator Reverend Warnock (SRW): \u201cOn Monday, August 25, President Trump escalated his continuing assault on the independence of the Federal Reserve by attempting to illegally fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Lisa Cook is a first-rate economist and a Georgian that we\u2019re all very proud of.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo president has ever attempted to fire a Fed Governor before. This stems from unsubstantiated allegations that Governor Cook has denied. Everyone understands what\u2019s happening here. The President\u2019s tariffs are damaging the economy. We can all see that. The economy is struggling, as he\u2019s created a 10% tax on virtually everything, making Americans poorer and poorer, all to give a tax cut to billionaires, and now he\u2019s insisting that the Fed cut interest rates to try and mask the fact that his economic policies are failing miserably. Families deserve a fed that will work for them, not for the President. And Lisa Cook is simply being scapegoated for Trump\u2019s failed economic policies.\u201d\n\n\u201cDr Myron, the Fed\u2019s job is to maximize employment and keep prices stable. That\u2019s it. Not to soothe the President\u2019s ego, not to inflate his poll numbers, not to carry out his political agenda. A strong central bank serves families, investors and the entire world by just relying on economic data and focusing on employment and prices. There\u2019s a reason why our economy, even when it struggles, is the envy of the world. There\u2019s a reason why people invest in America, and I think that the independence of the Fed has a lot to do with that. You seem to believe the opposite.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor example, in this Manhattan Institute paper published last year that I would like to enter into the record. You proposed reforming the Federal Reserve by explicitly tying Fed board membership to the result of elections, giving the President control over the Fed and allowing the President to have complete authority to fire Fed governors. Congress would need to implement these reforms, is that correct?\n\nDr. Stephen Miran (SM): \u201cThank you, Senator, that is not correct. I did not recommend giving the President control over the Fed, because what I recommended doing was a package of checks and balances, and one of the other checks and balances included in that package was strengthening the system of reserve of regional Reserve Banks and ensuring that they voted every meeting which would then get majority of the Board of Governors.\u201d\n\n(SRW): \u201cI\u2019ve read your paper, and I disagree with your characterization of the argument. Do you think our economy would be better off with President Trump setting interest rates unilaterally?\u201d\n\n(SM): \u201cThank you, Senator. I don\u2019t believe that\u2019s a situation which is currently happening.\u201d\n\n(SRW): \u201cBut my question is, do you think our economy would be better off if he were able to set interest rates unilaterally? Yes or No?\u201d\n\n(SM): \u201cI think the President has had a series of excellent calls in monetary policy over the recent so you think yours however, I do think that independence of the central bank from political cycle is key to its long-term success in delivering superior economics.\u201d\n\n(SRW): \u201cSo, if a Fed Governor disagrees with the President over interest rates, should the President be able to fire them based solely on that policy disagreement?\n\n(SM): \u201cI\u2019m afraid that I have no legal training, particularly not in constitutional employment law, so that question is not one that I am capable of answering.\u201d\n\n(SRW): \u201cDo you think the President should be able to fire someone based solely on a policy disagreement. You\u2019ve been nominated to serve on the Fed?\u201d\n\n(SM): \u201cAgain, I have no means with which to evaluate that claim, lacking any\u2026\u201d\n\n(SRW): \u201cDo you think it\u2019s appropriate for the President to threaten to fire them as he\u2019s threatened to fire Chair Powell?\u201d\n\n(SM): \u201cAgain, it\u2019s, it\u2019s not my prerogative to have views on such and such a question.\u201d\n\n(SRW): \u201cWell, I think you have opined on such questions. Here\u2019s the problem with your answer. Trust in institutions takes years. It takes decades to build, and this political assault on the Fed\u2019s independence threatens market stability, reducing investment in our country, costing jobs, and jeopardizing the retirement accounts of millions of Americans.\u201d\n\n\u201cDr Myron, in your view, what happens when businesses and consumers and investors lose faith in the Fed\u2019s ability to act independently from politics, whether it\u2019s from the left or the right?\u201d\n\n(SM): \u201cThank you, Senator. Should financial markets and households and firms come to view the Fed as not independent, it presumably will have a material effect on bond yields and inflation expectations. That would be adverse for economic outcomes.\u201d\n\n(SRW): \u201cI think that there\u2019s a reason, again, that America\u2019s economy is the envy of the world. I think the independence of the Fed is an important part of that, and based on the statements that I have seen so far, I\u2019m convinced that you\u2019re not going to exercise that kind of independence. I think you\u2019re conflicted in this role, that you would be a mouthpiece and a proxy vote on the Fed board for President Trump, if you were confirmed, and I find that deeply alarming and concerning, as I think about the retirement accounts of people of Georgia, as well as the strength of our overall economy.\u201d\n\n###", 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.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-defends-americans-401ks-by-protecting-an-independent-federal-reserve/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4006220735609531, "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"}