Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Joining us now for
Speaker 1: more as Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, ranking member
Speaker 1: on the Senate Banking Committee. Senator, it's always a pleasure
Speaker 1: to have you on Bloomberg TV and radio. This is
Speaker 1: obviously one of those days where we need to compare
Speaker 1: notes with you here, and I will note the fact
Speaker 1: that you delivered an important address earlier today at the
Speaker 1: National Press Club. It wasn't about Jay Powell. It was
Speaker 1: about the future of the Democrat Party, and I know
Speaker 1: affordability and the economy were key components of your address.
Speaker 1: You posted on social media after you left the club
Speaker 1: that President Trump called you after you mentioned him in
Speaker 1: your speech. What did he have to say.
Speaker 2: Well, the speech had been about how Democrats need to
Speaker 2: get out there and fight to lower costs for American families.
Speaker 2: I pointed out that Donald Trump had run for office
Speaker 2: and every day for a year he promised that on
Speaker 2: day one he would lower cost for American families. He
Speaker 2: gets elected, and so the reason he got elected was
Speaker 2: because he promised on day one to lower costs. It
Speaker 2: has been a year now and the cost of groceries
Speaker 2: is up, The cost of healthcare is up, the cost
Speaker 2: of housing is up, the cost of utilities is up,
Speaker 2: all because of Donald Trump and Republican policies. And I
Speaker 2: said it's time both to hold Donald Trump accountable and
Speaker 2: for Democrats to get in there and put out our
Speaker 2: proposals to lower costs and to show that we're willing
Speaker 2: to fight for them. And after that speech was over,
Speaker 2: Donald Trump gave me a call and we talked about
Speaker 2: things we could do to lower costs for American families.
Speaker 2: That is my job, That is the job of Democrats,
Speaker 2: that is the job of Congress and the president of
Speaker 2: the United States.
Speaker 1: Well wait a minute here, so he called you in
Speaker 1: the spirit of cooperation, Senator, I guess I just assumed
Speaker 1: he was not a fan of your speech. Is this
Speaker 1: the same Donald Trump who wants to ban invests, institutional
Speaker 1: investors from buying single family homes, to stop defense contractors
Speaker 1: from issuing dividends and stock buybacks, wants to start lowering
Speaker 1: interest rates. A lot of these are pages out of
Speaker 1: your book, right, Are you guys going to collaborate on
Speaker 1: these issues?
Speaker 2: Same Donald Trump? In fact, we specifically talked about putting
Speaker 2: a cap on interest rates on credit cards and about
Speaker 2: getting this road to Housing bill that has passed the
Speaker 2: Senate unanimously to build up more housing supply and bring
Speaker 2: down costs. It's hung up by Republicans over in the House.
Speaker 2: Democrats are already we have voted for it, We're ready
Speaker 2: to go, but the Republicans in the House are holding
Speaker 2: it up. And Donald Crump just hasn't delivered on either
Speaker 2: one of those. So my view is, no more talk,
Speaker 2: Let's actually deliver for American families. That's our job.
Speaker 3: So Senator Warren, you sound like you had this common
Speaker 3: with him. There are some similar issues here. Would you
Speaker 3: be willing to work with the president work together to
Speaker 3: handle affordability for the American people, or do you fight
Speaker 3: back with everything going on right now in the midterms
Speaker 3: right around the corner.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, my job is to be here to fight to
Speaker 2: lower costs for American families, and that is what all
Speaker 2: of my Democratic colleagues are here for. The speech I
Speaker 2: was giving today was about how we best do that.
Speaker 2: Do we decide that we're going to lay out our
Speaker 2: agenda and try to soften it up in order not
Speaker 2: to offend any billionaires or corporate CEOs, or are we
Speaker 2: actually going to get in this fight, full throated all
Speaker 2: the way, and show with concrete proposals that we are
Speaker 2: willing to make a difference in people's lives. We are
Speaker 2: willing to fight to unrig an economic system that keeps
Speaker 2: working better and better for the billionaires, worse and worse
Speaker 2: for everyone else. I believe that Democrats must must win
Speaker 2: in November twenty twenty four. And the way we do
Speaker 2: that is we build real credibility on the issue of
Speaker 2: lowering costs for American families.
Speaker 3: Senator, I'm curious in this conversation with President Trump did
Speaker 3: the investigation into fed share Powell come up.
Speaker 2: So look, I'm not going to talk about details in
Speaker 2: a conversation, but I just want to say it was
Speaker 2: all about costs, about how we reduce costs for American families.
Speaker 2: And I've had proposals on the table for a very
Speaker 2: long time. Donald Trump has talked about proposals that would
Speaker 2: reduce costs, but so far had lifted a finger to deliver.
Speaker 2: So for me, it's put up time. You really want
Speaker 2: to make some change. Donald Trump could help make some
Speaker 2: change right now, and that's what I want to see
Speaker 2: us do. I'm in this vice all.
Speaker 1: The way is incredible. Are you guys going to appear
Speaker 1: on stages going to Detroit tomorrow? This is cats and
Speaker 1: dogs living together, Senator, I'm not even sure what to
Speaker 1: ask you next.
Speaker 2: Look understand, American families have been telling us now an
Speaker 2: election after election after election, yea, that their finances are
Speaker 2: getting more and more stressed, that they are more and
Speaker 2: more worried about their economic security. And right now, after
Speaker 2: Donald Trump has been president for a year, it has
Speaker 2: all gotten worse. I don't know if you all saw
Speaker 2: just announced a couple of weeks ago that since Donald
Speaker 2: Trump has been president, home mortgage foreclosures have gone up
Speaker 2: twenty one percent. Costs have gone up in category after
Speaker 2: category after category. And it's about tariffs, It's about corporate consolidation.
Speaker 2: There are a lot of things the Republicans have been
Speaker 2: doing all to drive up costs for families. Families cannot
Speaker 2: take it anymore. My pitch today in this speech is
Speaker 2: that Democrats, this is our moment to rebuild trust with
Speaker 2: the American people. After all, the Democratic Party, we're the
Speaker 2: ones who brought America social security in the forty hour
Speaker 2: work week and the minimum wage, and unemployment insurance and
Speaker 2: Medicare and Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and housing
Speaker 2: for first time home buyings and housing for veterans. We
Speaker 2: got out there and fought for those things that help
Speaker 2: build a more financially secure middle class. It is our
Speaker 2: time now to get back in that fight full throated.
Speaker 2: Not to send it down because some billionaire might say, WHOA,
Speaker 2: that means I'll have to pay more taxes. That's too bad.
Speaker 2: Our job is to be in the fight to lower
Speaker 2: costs for American families. And I'm all in, well, you.
Speaker 1: Got the cap on credit cards. We could just keep
Speaker 1: on going here, Senator, But I have to ask you
Speaker 1: about this whole J. Powell affair. Just for starters, the
Speaker 1: man you famously called a dangerous man in a hearing
Speaker 1: in the Senate, we're now hearing about this investigation that
Speaker 1: could bring criminal charges. Do you support that probe?
Speaker 2: No? I do not. I think we're all clear. What's
Speaker 2: going on here. Is it as a pretext for Donald
Speaker 2: Trump to be able to take control of the Federal Reserve.
Speaker 2: I don't have to remind you all and the people
Speaker 2: who listen to this program about the importance of FED independence,
Speaker 2: so that whatever it is the FED is deciding on
Speaker 2: monetary policy. We should have confidence that that decision is
Speaker 2: based on their best assessment of the data about inflation,
Speaker 2: the data about unemployment, the data about GDP growth and investment,
Speaker 2: and not about politics. But we know the temptation for
Speaker 2: every president as you start to come into a tough election,
Speaker 2: if they could control interest rates, it would be to
Speaker 2: roll those interest rates down to deuce the economy, so
Speaker 2: there'd be a lot of cheap money flowing through the
Speaker 2: economy shortly before the election. Now that may work for
Speaker 2: the election, but it's terrible for the economy long term,
Speaker 2: and it undermines confidence in the FED that they are
Speaker 2: making good economic decisions. So Donald Trump looked from the
Speaker 2: first day basically that he got in office, he said
Speaker 2: he wanted to fire Jerome Palell. He's tried to fire
Speaker 2: Lisa Cook. He has openly said that he will not
Speaker 2: appoint anyone to be FED chair who is not willing
Speaker 2: to be a sock puppet that is agree with Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: No matter what Donald Trump says, all of those are
Speaker 2: about Donald Trump exercising control over the FED, destroying FED independence.
Speaker 2: And that's what this probe is. It's a pretext. It's
Speaker 2: a way to try to knock the legs out from
Speaker 2: Jerome Powell. I'm no Jerome Powell supporter, but I am
Speaker 2: a supporter of FED independence and reaponization of the Department
Speaker 2: of Justice is fundamentally wrong. Congress has a role to
Speaker 2: play here. Congress does not have to approve a new
Speaker 2: Federal Reserve chair, and Congress could investigate what the Justice
Speaker 2: Department is up to using its power in a way
Speaker 2: like this.
Speaker 1: Well, you might investigate what brought the President or I
Speaker 1: guess the DOJ to this point. The President, to be clear,
Speaker 1: says he wasn't part of this. But before you leave,
Speaker 1: a Senator, how about Bill Poulty, the FHFA director, was
Speaker 1: with us this morning on Bloomberg. He refuted our own
Speaker 1: reporting that Pulty is the main instigator in these charges
Speaker 1: against Powell and led the President in this direction. If
Speaker 1: you are going to follow up on this, will use
Speaker 1: subpoena Bill Poulty to testify before the Banking Committee.
Speaker 2: I would be very glad to subpoenable Bill Poulta to
Speaker 2: testify for the Senate Banking Committee. Obviously, we need the
Speaker 2: cooperation of the Republicans to get that done. But yes,
Speaker 2: by Gollie, you should come and testify under oath.
Speaker 1: It's great to have you back, Senator. Thank you for
Speaker 1: the time, as always, Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat from Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg, we thank you