Warren: Powell ‘pointed a flamethrower’ at banking regulations

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took aim at U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Sunday, saying he “pointed a flamethrower” at banking regulations under the Trump administration.

“Donald Trump ran for president saying he would deregulate these banks,” Warren said in an interview with CBS’ “Face The Nation.” “And then Jerome Powell just literally took a flamethrower to those provisions to make them less effective.”

Powell and the Fed have come under heavy criticism since the collapse of the Silicon Valley bank earlier this month, sending shockwaves through the banking industry. Many liberals have pointed to Powell’s time at the Fed as a period of rapid deregulation.

Former President Trump appointed Powell to head the Fed in 2018. Under his leadership, the Fed has trimmed some key regulatory actions, including removing some tools from the Dodd-Frank banking reform package passed after 2008. economic crisis. With the help of Congress, the Fed reduced the number of banks that were subject to stronger federal supervision.

Powell was reappointed by President Biden early last year, and some progressive Democrats, including Warren, opposed the decision to give Powell another term at the Fed.

“Jerome Powell has said that he just wants to deregulate the banks,” Warren told CBS. – I opposed him as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank for this very reason.

And as federal officials continue to navigate the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and its reverberating effects, Warren called for accountability from both regulators and bank executives.

“We need accountability for our regulators who clearly failed their jobs, and that starts with Jerome Powell,” Warren said. “And we need accountability for the leaders of these large financial institutions.”