Biden meets with Powell, urges respect for Fed

President Biden met with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the White House on Tuesday and urged respect for the Federal Reserve Board amid high inflation.

“My plan is to address inflation, starts with a simple proposition: respect the Fed, respect the Fed’s independence, which I have done and will continue to do,” Biden said in the Oval Office.

The president said that part of his job is to nominate people for the Fed and to “give them the space they need to do their job, not interfere with their critically important work.”

He congratulated Powell on his recent Senate confirmation to a second term as chair. The meeting is the first time the two have meet since November.

Biden called addressing inflation his top priority in the meeting, which also included Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese. Biden earlier on Tuesday released a three-part plan to lower rising prices.

“Chair Powell and other members of the Fed have noted at this moment they have been laser focused on addressing inflation like I am and with a larger complement of board members now confirmed,” Biden said.

The first part of Biden’s plan included an acknowledgment that the Fed “has a primary responsibility to control inflation” and noted that his predecessor, without naming former President Trump, “demeaned the Fed.”

The two other parts of the plan involved making things more affordable for families and reducing the federal deficit to reduce price pressures.