Sen. Blackburn calls out sanctuary policies: 'Every town is a border town'
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The Hill
a few seconds ago
- The Hill
Trump narrows Fed chair candidates to four, excluding Treasury Secretary Bessent
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he's whittled down his list of potential Federal Reserve chair candidates to four as he considers a successor to Jerome Powell — a choice that could reset the path of the U.S. economy. Asked on CNBC's 'Squawk Box' for a future replacement for Powell, Trump named Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, and Kevin Warsh, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. 'I think Kevin and Kevin, both Kevins, are very good,' Trump said. He said two other people were also under consideration, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not among them. 'I love Scott, but he wants to stay where he is,' Trump said. He did not name his other two top candidates but used the opportunity to disparage Powell, whom he has dubbed 'too late' in cutting interest rates. The news that Trump plans to make a decision on the Fed chair 'soon' comes as the Republican president has been highly critical of Powell, whose term ends in May 2026. Trump recently floated having the Fed's board of governors take full control of the U.S. central bank from Powell, whom he has relentlessly pressured to cut short-term interest rates in ways that raise questions about whether the Fed can remain free from White House politicking. Trump has openly mused about whether to remove Powell before his tenure as chair ends, but he's held off on dismissing the Fed chair after a recent Supreme Court ruling suggested he could only do so for cause rather than out of policy disagreements. The president has put pressure on Powell by claiming he mismanaged the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation project, but he's also said that he's 'highly unlikely' to fire Powell. One of the Fed's governors, Adriana Kugler, made a surprise announcement last Friday that she would be stepping away from her role. That created an opening for Trump, who called her departure 'a pleasant surprise,' to name a new Fed governor. Trump told CNBC it's 'a possibility' that his pick to replace Kugler could also be his choice to replace Powell. Trump told reporters that he plans to name his pick to join the Fed's board of governors soon, though he is deciding whether he'll nominate someone to permanently join the board and possibly succeed Powell or simply serve out the remaining months of Kugler's term. 'I'll be making that decision before the end of the week,' Trump said later Tuesday when asked about his Fed governor pick. Here's what to know about the two known candidates: Kevin Hassett Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, has been supportive of the president's agenda — from his advocacy for income tax cuts and tariffs to his support of the recent firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. Hassett served in the first Trump administration as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He has a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and worked at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute before joining the Trump White House in 2017. As part of Hassett's farewell announcement in 2019, Trump called him a 'true friend' who did a 'great job.' Hassett became a fellow at the Hoover Institution, which is located at Stanford University. He later returned to the administration to help deal with the pandemic. On CNBC on Monday, Hassett said 'all over the U.S. government, there have been people who have been resisting Trump everywhere they can.' Kevin Warsh A former Fed governor who stepped down in 2011, Warsh is currently a fellow at the Hoover Institution. He has been supportive of cutting interest rates, a key goal of Trump's. 'The president's right to be frustrated with Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve,' Warsh said on Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures' last month. Warsh has been increasingly critical of Powell's Federal Reserve and in July, on CNBC, called for sweeping changes on how the Fed conducts business as well as a new Treasury-Fed accord 'like we did in 1951, after another period where we built up our nation's debt and we were stuck with a central bank that was working at cross purposes with the Treasury.' He said the Fed's 'hesitancy to cut rates, I think, is actually quite a mark against them.' 'The specter of the miss they made on inflation' after the pandemic, he said, 'it has stuck with them. So one of the reasons why the president, I think, is right to be pushing the Fed publicly is we need regime change in the conduct of policy.' 'He's very highly thought of,' Trump said in June when asked directly about Warsh.
The Hill
a few seconds ago
- The Hill
Court temporarily blocks Trump from reallocating FEMA disaster preparedness funds
A federal court on Tuesday temporarily barred the Trump administration from reallocating funds used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help communities prevent future storm damage. A coalition of 20 Democrat-led states sued the Trump administration over its move to end the Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities (BRIC) program, which helps fund infrastructure upgrades to make communities more prepared for extreme weather. Now, while that litigation plays out, FEMA will not be able to repurpose the money it would have spent on the program. 'The Government is preliminarily enjoined from spending the funds allocated to BRIC for non-BRIC purposes until the court is able to render a final judgment on the merits,' said the decision from Judge Richard Stearns, a Clinton appointee in Massachusetts. The decision does not release the funds to the states but simply prevents the Trump administration from using the money for other purposes. 'The court is not convinced that Congress vested in the agency any discretion to reallocate funds from the BRIC account,' Stearns wrote. He added that there's a significant potential for harm to the states based on the decision, noting that 'The BRIC program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives.' The states that sued are Washington, Massachusetts, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) sued in his gubernatorial capacity, as his state's attorney general is a Republican. 'The President keeps breaking the law, and we keep holding him accountable in court,' said California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) in a written statement. 'Shuttering this program would do nothing to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse or improve government efficiency. This is a program with bipartisan support that is focused on protecting lives and livelihoods from flooding, wildfires, earthquakes, and other natural disasters,' he added. The Trump administration has attempted to reallocate multiple federal funds, especially pertaining to programs it disagrees with. It has aimed particular fire at FEMA, having floated even eliminating the agency outright, though lately its rhetoric has leaned more toward reforms than outright termination.
USA Today
a few seconds ago
- USA Today
Marjorie Taylor Greene asks for George Santos' sentence to be commuted
Former New York Republican congressman George Santos began a seven-year federal sentence on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on July 25. U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is asking President Donald Trump to commute former U.S. Rep. George Santos' prison sentence. Santos, a 37-year-old Republican from New York, reported to the Federal Correctional Institution Flatiron Satellite Camp in New Jersey on Friday, July 25 to begin a seven-year prison sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos pleaded guilty to the charges last year. Less than two weeks after the disgraced politician's sentence began, Greene, a Republican from Georgia, sent a letter to Pardon Attorney Edward R Martin requesting that he urge the president to take action on the matter. 'I wholeheartedly believe in justice and the rule of the law and I understand the gravity of such actions,' wrote Greene. 'However, I believe a seven-year sentence for such campaign-related matters for an individual with no prior criminal record extends far beyond what is warranted.' Greene continued her letter, stating Santos is 'sincerely remorseful and has accepted full responsibility for his actions.' She alleged: 'Many of my colleagues who I serve with have committed far worse offenses than Mr. Santos yet have faced zero criminal charges.' Newsmax's Rob Finnerty asked the president about intervening in Santos' case in an interview that aired on Friday, Aug. 1. Trump said Santos 'lied like hell,' but 'he was 100 percent for Trump.' Trump said he didn't know Santos and wasn't sure if he had ever met him. While no one specifically asked him to intervene in the case, the president agreed that seven years is 'a long time.' He didn't rule out the possibility of commuting Santos' sentence, telling Finnerty: 'I have the right to do it.' In his second administration, Trump's already granted 58 pardons and 12 commutations. On the president's first day in office, he granted clemency to every person charged or convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. More recently, he pardoned reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley. The couple was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2022. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, has been a staunch Trump supporter and endorsed the president in a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Shortly after Santos won the New York Third Congressional District election in 2022, media outlets discovered he had lied about much of his past, including a career on Wall Street, connections to the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 attacks. Parts of his resume also were called into question. In December 2023, he was expelled by his fellow congressional members. Santos had a history of advocating for the president's agenda and found himself aligned with other lawmakers who shared similar ideals, including Greene. Shortly after arriving in prison, Santos wrote an op-ed for The South Shore Press, a Long Island, New York-area newspaper, which was published on Monday, Aug. 4. 'As I crossed the threshold of the dormitory and took my first steps into what would become my new reality, I caught a glimpse of myself in the small, scratched mirror held up by one of the inmates,' wrote Santos. 'That image – me, hollow-eyed, clad in state-issued polyester – hit me like a punch to the gut.' Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at mdelrey@
