ROUND TWO

Senate Confirms Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chairman for a Second Term

Despite the central bank facing the highest inflation rate in decades, Powell received vast bipartisan support.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Senate confirmed Jerome Powell to a second four-year term as Federal Reserve Chairman. The 80-19 vote came as the central bank faces the highest inflation rate in 40 years, which President Joe Biden recently called his “top domestic priority.” The country’s staggering inflation rate has not meaningfully harmed Powell’s reputation on the Hill, but economists on either end of the political spectrum have criticized his past reluctance to withdraw pandemic stimulus and failure to accurately assess the risk of rising prices. The Fed has recently started withdrawing stimulus dollars much more quickly and raising interest rates in an effort to cool down the economy. If Powell’s second term is anything like his first, he is in for a chaotic four years.