President Joe Biden said the Federal Reserve‘s rate cut is “important” but only the first step during a speech before the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
“It doesn’t mean our work is done,” Biden said. “Far from it.”
The Fed cut interest rates by half a percentage point on Wednesday, the first time it had trimmed rates in more than four years. The new rate target, 4.75% to 5.00%, is still one of the highest seen this century, a result of the Fed seeking to tamp down inflation that peaked at 9.1% in 2022.
Biden blamed the high inflation on the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, though Republicans say his own spending, such as the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan he signed into law shortly after taking office, is a bigger culprit.
Biden hailed the spending bill, saying it helped people get vaccinated against COVID-19 and that, otherwise, “our economic recovery would have never taken off.”
Biden praised Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, saying he had never spoken to him as president, and used that as a premise upon which to disparage former President Donald Trump.
“Unlike my predecessor, I respect the Federal Reserve’s independence,” he said. “We’ll do enormous damage to our economy if that independence is ever lost.”
He otherwise stuck to well-worn themes, saying he had created hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs and helped pass the most significant climate act in history.
While bragging about strides made by women in the workforce, he quipped, “There’s not a single job that women can’t do, including being president of the United States of America.”
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He also took a few shots at Trump, saying his tariff ideas would represent a “sales tax” costing middle-class households $4,000 a year and speaking about the importance of democracy.
“We have stability because we have the rule of law,” Biden said. “We can never lose with democratic principles.”