Americas

US treasury secretary calls for review of entire Federal Reserve

'What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful,' Scott Bessent says

Mucahithan Avcioglu  | 21.07.2025 - Update : 21.07.2025
US treasury secretary calls for review of entire Federal Reserve Scott Bessent

ISTANBUL

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested on Monday a full review of the Federal Reserve of its overall function that would go even deeper than the current controversy about the building renovations.

“What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful,” Bessent told CNBC television.

The secretary's remarks came after a heated conflict between the Federal Reserve and the White House over monetary policy and, most recently, a building renovation.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that Fed Chair Jerome Powell cut the policy rate, saying his "lateness" is costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars.

Trump even said he hopes that Powell resigns.

Regarding whether Trump was planning to remove the Fed chair, there were contradictory reports last week.

White House reports suggested a move was being prepared, but Trump quickly denied he was preparing a legally dubious move.

Also, the White House has attacked the Fed in recent days for cost overruns in the $2.5 billion renovations it made to two of its buildings in Washington.

Powell hit back at allegations of wrongdoing in renovations to the central bank’s Washington headquarters last week, saying changes to the 1930s-era buildings were badly needed, duly approved, and transparent.

Regarding interest rates, Bessent supported the notion that the Fed should likely be lowering rates now that inflation is mostly easing.

“They were fearmongering over tariffs, and thus far we have seen very little, if any, inflation,” Bessent said.

“We’ve had great inflation numbers. So, you know, I think this idea (is) of them not being able to break out of a certain mindset. All these PhDs over there, I don’t know what they do," he added.

The annual inflation in the US rose 2.7% in June, up from 2.4% in May.

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