Fed Chair Powell Didn’t Bother to Watch Biden’s State of the Union

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell told a congressional panel on Wednesday that he did not watch the State of the Union address the night before.

“I was too busy getting ready for this hearing. I did not watch it,” Powell said.

This prompted some laughter in the chamber where the House Financial Services Committee was holding a hearing on monetary policy and the economy,

“I will not tell the president,” replied Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.)

“I probably just did,” Powell said.

Supporters of President Joe Biden had hoped that his Tuesday night address would give him an opportunity to reinvigorate his agenda after it had been derailed by the defections of his party members and runaway inflation. The consensus on Wednesday was that the speech had flopped, failing to make much of an impact on hte public’s perception of the economy or rally support for the president’s policies.

The decision by Powell not to even watch the speech seemed to highlight Biden’s increasing loss of influence and perceived ineffectiveness is in the nation’s capital.

Polls show inflation, which is running at the highest rate in 40 years, is one of the biggest concerns of the U.S. public right now. Biden announced that his solution would be to “lower your costs.”

“My plan to fight inflation will lower your costs and lower the deficit,” Biden said.

Biden’s specific proposal included lowering costs was a laundry list of policies that were included in the Build Back Better program that died in the Senate last year. These included subsidized child care, government spending for home and long-term care, more affordable housing, pre-k for three and four year olds, tax hikes on U.S. businesses, and pressuring pharmaceutical makers into lowering the costs of their products.

Few economists believe these spending plans would lower inflation and none of the proposals would do so in the near term. Many of the proposals might actually increase price pressures in some corners of the economy by increasing demand for things such as childcare and home weatherizing materials.

Asked about Biden’s proposal, Powell declined to give his views.

“I really cannot comment,” Powell said.

Powell is officially now the Fed Chair Pro Tempore because Biden’s nomination for him to be confirmed to a second four-year term as Chair has yet to leave the Senate Banking Committee or reach the full Senate for a vote.