Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts, radio, news.
Joining us now for more is Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee. Senator, it's always a pleasure to have you on Bloomberg TV and radio. This is obviously one of those days where we need to compare notes with you here. And I will note the fact that you delivered an important address earlier today at the National Press Club.
It wasn't about Jay Powell. It was about the future of the Democrat Party.
Chapter 2: What did Senator Warren discuss in her speech at the National Press Club?
And I know affordability and the economy were key components there. of your address. You posted on social media after you left the club that President Trump called you after you mentioned him in your speech. What did he have to say?
Well, the speech had been about how Democrats need to get out there and fight to lower costs for American families. I pointed out that Donald Trump had run for office and every day for a year he promised that on day one he would lower costs for American families. He gets elected and said the reason he got elected was because he promised on day one to lower costs.
It's been a year now and the cost of groceries is up, the cost of health care is up, the cost of housing is up, the cost of utilities is up. all because of Donald Trump and Republican policies. And I said it's time both to hold Donald Trump accountable and for Democrats to get in there and put out our proposals to lower costs and to show that we're willing to fight for them.
And after that speech was over, Donald Trump gave me a call. And we talked about things we could do to lower costs for American families. That is my job. That is the job of Democrats. That is the job of Congress and the President of the United States.
Well, wait a minute here. So he called you in the spirit of cooperation, Senator? I guess I just assumed he was not a fan of your speech. Is this the same Donald Trump who wants to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes to stop defense contractors from issuing dividends and stock buybacks, wants to start lowering interest rates?
A lot of these are pages out of your book, right? Are you guys going to collaborate on these issues?
Same Donald Trump. In fact, we specifically talked about putting a cap on interest rates on credit cards and about getting this road to housing bill that has passed the Senate unanimously to build up more housing supply and bring down costs. It's hung up by Republicans over in the House. Democrats are all ready. We have voted for it. We're ready to go.
But the Republicans in the House are holding it up.
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Chapter 3: What was President Trump's reaction to Senator Warren's speech?
And Donald Trump just hasn't delivered on either one of those. So my view is no more talk. Let's actually deliver for American families.
That's our job. So, Senator Warren, you sound like you had this conversation with him. There are some similar issues here. Would you be willing to work with the president, work together to handle affordability for the American people? Or do you fight back with everything going on right now in the midterms right around the corner?
Absolutely. My job is to be here to fight to lower costs for American families. And that is what all of my Democratic colleagues are here for. The speech I was giving today was about how we best do that. Do we decide that we're gonna lay out our agenda and try to soften it up in order not to offend any billionaires or corporate CEOs?
Or are we actually gonna get in this fight full-throated all the way and show with concrete proposals that we are willing to make a difference in people's lives We are willing to fight to unrig an economic system that keeps working better and better for the billionaires, but worse and worse for everyone else. I believe that Democrats must, must, must win in November 2024.
And the way we do that is we build real credibility on the issue of lowering costs for American families.
Senator, I'm curious, in this conversation with President Trump, did the investigation into Fed Chair Powell come up?
So look, I'm not going to talk about details in a conversation, but I just want to say it was all about costs, about how we reduce costs for American families. And I've had proposals on the table for a very long time. Donald Trump has talked about proposals that would reduce costs, but so far hadn't lifted a finger to deliver. So for me, it's... Put up time. You really want to make some change?
Donald Trump could help make some change right now. And that's what I want to see us do. I'm in this fight all the way.
This is incredible. Are you guys going to appear on stage? He's going to Detroit tomorrow. This is cats and dogs living together, Senator. I'm not even sure what to ask you next.
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Chapter 4: How does Senator Warren propose to lower costs for American families?
What's going on here is it is a pretext for Donald Trump to be able to take control of the Federal Reserve. I don't have to remind you all and the people who listen to this program about the importance of Fed independence.
so that whatever it is the Fed is deciding on monetary policy, we should have confidence that that decision is based on their best assessment of the data about inflation, the data about unemployment, the data about GDP growth and investment, and not about politics.
But we know the temptation for every president, as you start to come into a tough election, if they could control interest rates, oh, it would be to roll those interest rates down to juice the economy, so there'd be a lot of cheap money flowing through the economy shortly before the election.
Now, that may work for the election, but it's terrible for the economy long term, and it undermines confidence in the Fed that they are making good economic decisions. So Donald Trump, look, from the first day basically that he got in office, he said he wanted to fire Jerome Powell. He's tried to fire Lisa Cook.
He has openly said that he will not appoint anyone to be Fed Chair who is not willing to be a sock puppet, that is agree with Donald Trump no matter what Donald Trump says. All of those are about Donald Trump exercising control over the Fed, destroying Fed independence. And that's what this probe is. It's a pretext. It's a way to try to knock the legs out from Jerome Powell.
I'm no Jerome Powell supporter. But I am a supporter of Fed independence. And the weaponization of the Department of Justice is fundamentally wrong. Congress has a role to play here. Congress does not have to approve a new Federal Reserve chair. And Congress could investigate what the Justice Department is up to using its power in a way like this.
Well, you might investigate what brought the president or I guess the DOJ to this point. The president, to be clear, says he wasn't part of this. But before you leave us, Senator, how about Bill Pulte? The FHFA director was with us this morning on Bloomberg.
He refuted our own reporting that alleges Pulte is the main instigator in these charges against Powell and led the president in this direction. If you are going to follow up on this, will you subpoena Bill Pulte to testify before the banking committee?
I would be very glad to subpoena Bill Paltate to testify for the Senate Banking Committee. Obviously, we need the cooperation of the Republicans to get that done. But yes, by golly, he should come and testify under oath.
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