Sen. John Cornyn said Friday that the clash between President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve is "a familiar debate," due to the administration's desire to see lower interest rates and the central bank's need to keep inflation low.
"I think what the president would like and what I would like is to see the Federal Reserve take its foot off the brake of the economy so the economy can grow a little faster," the Texas Republican told Newsmax's "Newsline." "Obviously, we're still dealing with the consequences of 40-year high inflation because of all the reckless spending by the Biden administration. Everything is roughly 20% or more higher in cost. It's a silent tax on the American people.
"This is a familiar, if you look back at history, a familiar debate between an administration which would always like to see interest rates lower, and a Federal Reserve that's trying to figure out how do we keep the specter of inflation from coming back," he added.
On Thursday, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said she is referring Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to the Justice Department over a $2.5 billion building renovations project that she believes he lied to Congress about.
When asked about Luna's move, Cornyn said that he thinks "Congress has a legitimate oversight responsibility when it comes to spending tax dollars and the Federal Reserve is no exception to that."
Switching gears, the Texas senator addressed critics of the rescissions package that the House gave final approval to early Friday after being passed by the Senate earlier in the week. Critics of the funding clawback had denounced the defunding of NPR and PBS that was included in the legislation.
"There are plenty of alternatives to public radio and PBS, and maybe that wasn't the case at one point, but, to me, there's a more fundamental objection and that is the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press," Cornyn said. "But I don't think anybody should really wholly trust government-supported media organizations. We don't need to do that. We've got $36 trillion plus national debt. These cuts in this rescissions package are very modest, but we're told by President Trump and his administration that this is just the first of many."
He also discussed the controversy surrounding the release of records related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, calling it "a sideshow" that he trusts the Trump administration to handle.
"There is a genuine concern about protecting innocent people and their privacy, whose names have been mentioned, who are not any of the people involved in the illegal or nefarious activity," Cornyn said. "So, I'm glad to know that the attorney general is going back to court to see if she can unseal some of the grand jury investigation, which is confidential by law, and hopefully that will address some of the concerns so we can get on to more important things that affect 350 million Americans, not just this."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.