Sen. Mike Lee blames central bank for inflation, says ‘End the Fed’ | CPT PPP Coverage

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Sen. Mike Lee aired his grievances about the Federal Reserve over the weekend, saying the central bank is to blame for inflation and questioned its role in monetary policy.

Lee, R-Utah, took to his personal Twitter account Sunday, as the Federal Reserve faces increased scrutiny from policymakers in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and ongoing inflation.

Utah’s senior senator shared a tweet from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, in which Massie said, “The Fed doesn’t control inflation, it causes it.”

Massie said money the Fed loaned to the U.S. Treasury with “artificially low (interest) rates” during the COVID-19 pandemic caused the inflation Americans are still dealing with.

“Given that the Federal Reserve often causes the very thing it was designed to prevent, perhaps it’s time to revisit its structure and role,” Lee said in response.

“END THE FED,” Lee said in a later tweet, an apparent reference to a 2009 book by former Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Paul is the father of current Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, a frequent Lee ally.

The Federal Reserve, which is tasked with moderating inflation and unemployment, has been aggressively raising interest rates since last year in an attempt to cool rising prices.

Fed leaders will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, where they will decide whether to continue raising rates.

Lee called the notion that it’s best to keep politics out of monetary policy “absurd,” and said the Fed isn’t accountable enough to voters.

“By keeping many decisions involving monetary policy away from elected officials — and instead handing that power over to ‘experts’ whose decisions are essentially unreviewable — we have given the Fed a degree of deference historically reserved for despots,” he tweeted. “Some say it’s crazy to question the Fed. It’s far crazier not to.”

Lee isn’t the only senator criticizing the Fed, and some Democrats are asking for more regulation of smaller banks. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, sent letters to the Fed, along with the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, asking regulators to investigate the oversight of Silicon Valley Bank ahead of its collapse.

“Remember the Federal Reserve Bank and (Federal Reserve Chairman) Jerome Powell are ultimately responsible for the oversight and supervision of these banks,” Warren said. “And they have made clear that they think their job is to lighten regulations on these banks. We’ve now seen the consequence.”