Following the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Florida Senator Rick Scott sharply criticized Fed Chair Jay Powell, accusing him of failing the American people and reiterating his call for new leadership at the nation’s central bank.
Scott, a vocal critic of Powell throughout his tenure, cited the Fed’s ballooning balance sheet, its handling of inflation, and recent bank failures as evidence of Powell’s mismanagement.
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In a fiery statement, the Florida Republican said Powell has “proven time and time again that he is a failure at the Federal Reserve.”
“During Jay Powell’s tenure as Chair, he has overseen a wildly unaccountable Federal Reserve with a balance sheet reaching an unprecedented $9 trillion,” Scott said. “In 2022, the Fed finally heeded my call to reduce its balance sheet, but has since failed to reach a single self-imposed benchmark and continues to lower the bar. As of today, the Fed has missed its target by $600 billion.”
Scott’s remarks come just days after he penned a Fox News op-ed titled “America can return to fiscal sanity with strong Federal Reserve leadership and Trump back in the White House,” in which he argued for a more fiscally disciplined and transparent central bank under new leadership aligned with former President Donald Trump’s economic vision.
“This adds to a long list of Chair Powell’s failures, including, but not limited to, rubber-stamping Joe Biden’s inflationary policies while lying to the American people about inflation being ‘transitory,’” Scott said in his statement. “He has failed to provide price stability, grossly mismanaged monetary policy, oversaw bank failures, refused to hold employees accountable for insider trading allegations, and lost $2 trillion on behalf of taxpayers.
The senator praised Trump’s efforts to bring accountability back to federal institutions and signaled that the Fed should be next in line for reform.
“President Trump is shaking up the status quo in Washington, bringing accountability to government, and fixing the policies that have failed the American people for years,” Scott added. “Now, it’s time to bring change to the Federal Reserve, starting with its leadership.”
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Scott has repeatedly introduced legislation aiming to overhaul the Fed’s structure, including measures to make the institution more transparent and limit its ability to act independently without greater Congressional oversight.
The criticism comes amid renewed debates over the Fed’s next moves on interest rates and its long-term strategy for curbing inflation, which remains a pressing concern for voters heading into the 2026 midterms. Powell has defended the Fed’s cautious approach, stating that economic uncertainty still requires flexibility and restraint, but critics like Scott argue that more decisive action is needed.
With the GOP increasingly unified behind Trump’s economic message, pressure is mounting on Powell as he navigates both economic headwinds and political crossfire.
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