“White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner to be President Donald Trump’s choice to chair the Federal Reserve, but some in the administration are questioning whether he’s up to the job,” Politico reports.
“Hassett’s detractors believe he has not been effective as head of the National Economic Council other than as a public messenger for the president’s agenda, playing little part in driving policies.”
“President Trump said he was leaning toward choosing either former Fed governor Kevin Warsh or National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett to lead the Federal Reserve next year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Hassett has been increasingly viewed as the front-runner after Trump repeatedly teased in recent weeks that he had settled on his choice to lead the Fed, but Trump’s comments suggest Warsh remains solidly in contention.”
Catherine Rampell: “There are many items on President Trump’s agenda that are hurting the U.S. economy: the pointless trade wars, the socialization of the private sector, the mass deportations, and much more.”
“But in the long run, the most damaging policy of all might be one that’s gotten scant attention, at least from non-finance-nerds: Trump’s quest to crush the Federal Reserve. If Trump succeeds, he may doom the United States to high inflation for years, if not decades, to come.”
Jonathan Last: “If Trump succeeds, then he will have created a problem without a solution—because no future administration can force bond markets to reappraise the American central bank.”
“Democrats are at odds over a Republican-led discharge petition to ban stock trading by members of Congress, with some insisting any prohibition should also apply to the executive branch,” The Hill reports.
“It marks the latest complication on an issue that has vexed Congress for years and fueled multiple unsuccessful attempts at reform.”
“Jerome Powell pushed through a rate cut Wednesday over the broadest reservations of his nearly eight-year tenure, and in doing so, implicitly delivered a pointed message to President Trump and his own successor: Cutting rates is harder than it looks,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The decision drew three dissents—two from officials who opposed any cut and one from a Trump ally who wanted a larger reduction.”
President Trump on Wednesday said the Federal Reserve’s latest decision to cut benchmark interest rates by a quarter percentage point could have been “at least doubled,” CNBC reports.
Trump, who has long urged the central bank to slash rates in order to spur further economic growth, called Fed Chair Jerome Powell “a stiff” who approved a “rather small” cut.
“Federal Reserve officials cut interest rates at their third consecutive meeting but signaled little appetite for more amid unusual internal divisions over whether inflation or the job market should be their bigger worry,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Public comments from Fed officials in recent weeks revealed a committee so fractured that the decision likely came down to how Fed Chair Jerome Powell wanted to proceed.”
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett says he would rely on his own judgment and not bow to political pressure to decide whether to cut interest rates if he becomes the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Hassett said, however, that there is “plenty of room” to cut rates in the months ahead.
“Affinity Partners, the private equity firm led by Jared Kushner, is part of Paramount’s hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery,” Axios reports.
“Paramount is telling WBD shareholders that it has a smoother path to regulatory approval than does Netflix, and Kushner’s involvement only strengthens that case.”
A working paper from Shang-Jin Wei and Yifan Zhou for the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that congressional leaders outperform back benchers in their stock trades by up to 47% a year.
Fortune: “Leadership’s stock market edge stems in part from their ability to set the regulatory or legislation agenda, such as deciding if and when a particular bill will be put to a vote. Setting the agenda also gives leaders advanced knowledge of when certain actions will take place.”
“In fact, Wei and Zhou found that leaders demonstrate much better returns on stock trades that are made when their party controls their chamber.”
“President Trump’s future Federal Reserve chair was already facing a daunting task: juggling wary financial markets, hard-to-interpret economic indicators, the sprawling and complex internal politics within the central bank itself and a brash president whose quest for lower interest rates has consumed much of his attention this year,” Politico reports.
“But as he homes in on his ultimate pick, Trump is ratcheting up the tension further for whomever gets the job after Fed Chair Jerome Powell by pushing for policies that could make inflation worse, even as he continues to pressure the Fed to declare victory over price spikes.”
Speaker Mike Johnson said he wants to strengthen rules to police insider trading by members of Congress, but believes that lawmakers should still be allowed to own stocks and other financial instruments, Punchbowl News reports.
Said Johnson: “We don’t want people cheating the system and abusing their office. So there’s probably a way to do that that still allows for lawful conduct by members… You don’t want another deterrence for good people running for office.”
“The Trump administration canceled a slate of interviews set to start this week with a group of finalists to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve as President Trump again suggested he had made up his mind about who should lead the central bank,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, is contributing more than $6 billion to President Donald Trump’s new accounts for newborn babies ‒ and the president wants others in the business world to follow the billionaire tech executive’s lead,” USA Today reports.
“President Trump said Sunday he’s decided who he’ll nominate to be the next Federal Reserve chair, but he wouldn’t be drawn on whether the pick is National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett,” Axios reports.
“White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett touted a positive market response to indications that Donald Trump could pick the next Federal Reserve chair before the end of the year — a job that the president’s chief economic adviser is seen as likely to win,” Bloomberg reports.
“Stocks and cryptocurrencies linked to President Trump are in a deep slump, leaving some of the president’s biggest fans with steep losses,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the president’s Truth Social platform, have tumbled 75% since Trump’s inauguration. Digital “meme coins” named for Trump and first lady Melania Trump are down 86% and 99% since inauguration day, respectively. And one of the Trump family’s crypto ventures, a token called World Liberty Financial, has dropped roughly 40% since its September launch.”
“White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is seen by advisers and allies of President Donald Trump as the frontrunner to be the next Federal Reserve chair,” Bloomberg reports.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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