WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) appeared on CNN’s Inside Politics to discuss the Federal Reserve and President Trump’s historic trade agenda.
Click the image above for the full discussion
Key Excerpts:
Sen. Banks: “…I know why the President is frustrated. All of the reasons that Powell has given us why interest rates haven’t gone down have been wrong. I mean he’s telling us; he’s testified before the Senate Banking Committee; I’ve met with him in private in my office. He blames tariffs, he blames inflation, but the facts speak for themselves, inflation has dropped to the lowest we’ve had since the first Trump term around 2%. Remember it was double digits during the Biden administration. And then the jobs announcement, $6 trillion dollars in investments because of tariffs. The revenue generated from tariffs, tariffs have been a net benefit for our country at this point and the tariffs are going to continue to be, with the trade deals President Trump is crafting is going to end up being a net win for America. So, Powell’s days are numbered one way or another. If the President fires Jerome Powell, then I support that move. If he wants to wait until Powell’s term expires and replace him with someone better, there are good candidates that are out there. But one last point, the Fed governors’ meeting this week was historically significant because it was the first time in over 30 years that there was a descending vote and there were two of them, two descending votes against the Chairman in favor of lowering rates. We need to lower rates to help families afford a house, and that’s why President Trump is frustrated.”
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Sen. Banks: “Nowhere in the country has benefitted more from tariffs than a manufacturing heavy state like Indiana. I mean, we’ve had so many announcements, there are too many to mention in this segment. From GM creating more jobs for more workers, or Honda Civic announcing that they’re going to make the next generation of civics in Indiana, not in Mexico or China because of the tariffs. Eli Lilly put $27 billion dollars pharmaceutical manufacturing in Indiana and in America instead of China. And that’s the big news here too, that China’s economy and their industry is faltering, and America’s industry, our manufacturing base and investments and technology in the United States of America are increasing…”
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Sen. Banks: “What my constituents are happy about is the number of good-paying jobs coming back to the United States of America. Steel mills, automotive factories in Indiana. That’s what we’re seeing, the increase in pay, the best and biggest blue-collar pay increase in 60 years because of Donald Trump due to his economic policies, like the tariffs, that we’ve seen in a very long time. That’s what matters the most. And these companies that are threatening to raise prices. The trade deals, the deals that President Trump is landing every day. It’s going to smooth out. Again, he always said this is going to be a bumpy ride, but in the long term, this is going to be better for our kids and our grandkids and that’s proving to be true.”