US President Joe Biden says he has 'confidence' in Jerome Powell

President Joe Biden said that he has confidence in Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, speaking hours after fellow Democrat Elizabeth Warren assailed the central bank and its leader on the floor of the Senate and in multiple televised interviews Tuesday.
 

“Well, thus far yes, but I’m just catching up to some of these assertions,” Biden said on a visit to Michigan when asked by a reporter about confidence in the Fed’s integrity and in Powell. 

Warren said in a Senate floor speech Tuesday morning that Powell had “failed as a leader” following revelations that top Fed officials have been actively trading securities during the pandemic crisis. The transactions raise “legitimate questions about conflicts of interest and insider trading,” the progressive Democrat from Massachusetts said. 

Powell’s term as Fed chair expires in February and Bloomberg News has reported that White House aides are considering recommending President Joe Biden keep him on the job. 

Warren has said she won’t support Powell for a second term as head of the U.S. central bank. She said Tuesday said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that Powell had been lax in his conduct of financial oversight, with stress-tests performed on banks that were “worse” than open-book exams.