Washington Wire

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C.— Making his case for 2024, President Joe Biden declared in deep-red South Carolina on Thursday that Republican-led states are gaining factory jobs because of economic measures he pushed through Congress despite stiff GOP opposition. White House officials maintain that if Republicans had their way, South Carolina, like many other…

—President Joe Biden on Friday plans to roll out a new set of initiatives to reduce health care costs: a crackdown on scam insurance plans, new guidance to prevent surprise medical bills and an effort to reduce medical debt tied to credit cards. Biden's remarks would build on previous initiatives to limit health care costs, with the Department of Health and Human…

Speaking Wednesday in Chicago, he defined Bidenomics as the reversal of four decades of "trickle-down economics" that prioritized the interests of the wealthy over the middle class. With his approval rating underwater, Mr. Biden is understandably eager to claim credit for low unemployment, real wage growth and the economy's better-than-expected resiliency.

And yet, it gets scant attention from the growing field of 2024 GOP presidential candidates. "Anytime you're talking about acronyms, you're losing," said longtime GOP strategist John Feehery, a former spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert. " Some Republican hopefuls, including Florida Gov.

The White House has been on the defense when it comes to the economy, especially as it emerged at times chaotically from the pandemic, arguing a recession is not inevitable and the low unemployment rate backs up that notion. Biden heads to Chicago on Wednesday to talk "Bidenomics," remarks the White House is billing as a major address. Ahead of the Chicago trip, the…

REPRESA, California— The graduates lined up, brushing off their gowns and adjusting classmates’ tassels and stoles. Thousands of prisoners throughout the United States get their college degrees behind bars, most of them paid for by the federal Pell Grant program, which offers the neediest undergraduates tuition aid that they don’ t have to repay.

Democrats are pushing to reform the deposit insurance system following massive bank failures that nearly tanked the economy earlier this year. After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank, whose uninsured deposits all ended up being insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Democrats are echoing the call of…

There's a horror movie cliché that feels a lot like the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate pause. The Fed left interest rates unchanged last week but signaled that inflation is still a scary figure in our economy. "The process of getting inflation down is going to be a gradual one," Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell said during a news conference Wednesday.

Jun. 22— Where is that recession the "experts" have been predicting for more than two years? It wasn't that the Federal Reserve Board was concerned about a robust economy, rather it was inflation that worried those who control the flow of money. The Federal Reserve, which was responsible for those low interest rates and resulting inflationary pressures, decided in…

John Fetterman participated Wednesday in a Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing on the nominations of Dr. Adriana Debora Kugler to serve as members of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System. He mentioned how his predecessor, former U.S. Sen.

After 10 consecutive interest rate hikes meant to squeeze down inflation, the Federal Reserve on June 14 held steady at a benchmark rate of between 5% and 5.25%, indicating that the aggressive intervention has yielded results and the central bank is easing off. Let's hope this pattern holds, because the consequences of too much harsh medicine could be more dire…

The Federal Reserve has halted increasing its target interest rate, the Federal Funds Rate, at 5 percent to 5.25 percent, as consumer inflation reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics continues to slow down, now down to an elevated 4 percent the past twelve months. Globally, Germany's economy is already shrinking, down 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent the past two…

WASHINGTON- Inflation may be cooling- just not yet fast enough for the Federal Reserve. Chair Jerome Powell offered a nuanced view Wednesday of how the Fed intends to address its core challenge at a time when inflation is both way below its peak but still well above the central bank's 2% target: Give it more time, and maybe some help from additional interest rate…

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits remained elevated last week, a possible sign that the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes over the past year may taking hold in what's proved to be a resilient job market. U.S. applications for jobless claims were 262,000 for the week ending June 10, the Labor Department reported Thursday, more than…

The Federal Reserve is taking a break from a rapid stretch of rate hikes as it approaches a critical crossroads in its battle with inflation. The Fed's rate-setting committee announced Wednesday it would keep its baseline interest rate range unchanged for the first time since January 2022. "We've moved much closer to our destination," Federal Reserve Chairman…

Facing a stronger-than-expected economy and sticky inflation in core prices, the Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday it's going to hike interest rates two more times before the year is through despite taking a break in June. The June pause marks the first interval in one of the fastest quantitative tightening cycles in the history of the U.S. central bank,…

When Alexander Hamilton, as the first Treasury secretary, starting in 1789, began issuing debt to borrow on the good name of the new government of the United States until now, there has never been a default on its loans. Instead, yesterday afternoon, X-date minus 2, President Biden signed into a law a compromise agreed to with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to…

House lawmakers, troubled by an onslaught of Biden administration regulations that are crushing businesses and angering consumers, will vote on legislation that would give Congress the final say over major rules issued by the executive branch. The planned vote in the Republican-led House follows an aggressive regulatory push by the Biden administration…

Republicans and Democrats agreed before beginning their negotiations not to touch so-called mandatory spending— Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Although the government was not authorized by law to keep borrowing, and Treasury was taking“ extraordinary measures” to prevent default, Washington kept on racking up more debt. The national debt had…

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis shared the results of its recent Q1 2023 Agricultural Economic Conditions Survey. The Fed surveys agricultural bankers throughout the district to get a picture of what's really going on in the Ninth District and found some uncertainty as they look into the future. The Fed does a survey once a quarter because…