President Trump has launched a new line of attack against the Federal Reserve by questioning the legitimacy of President Biden’s appointments to the central bank’s leadership.
CNBC reports Trump insinuated that Biden’s Fed appointees were void because they were signed with an autopen and not by the then-president himself.
“By the way, it looks — you’re gonna have to check this, please — I just heard, it could be that all four commissioners in the Fed signed by Biden,” Trump stated during a speech in Pennsylvania yesterday evening designed to hype his economic policies. “I hear that the autopen may have signed those commissions.”
Trump then seemed to address his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from the podium, adding. “Have you checked that? Are you hearing it? Who signed it? Did he sign it, or did the autopen sign it? So, I don’t know. I think it’s something we have to look into. They put people there that are not authorized to be there. Would you check that, Scott? Because I’m hearing that the autopen could have signed maybe all four, but maybe a couple of them. We’ll take two.”
Federal Reserve appointments require Senate confirmation and are not unilaterally enacted by presidential declaration. Trump has accused the Biden administration staff of repeated unauthorized use of the autopen to affix the presidential signature to official documents.
The appointments Trump cited include Fed Vice Chairman Philip Jefferson, Govs. Michael Barr and Lisa Cook, and the reappointment of Chairman Jerome Powell – Trump initially appointed Powell in 2018. Trump much of the year insulting Powell’s intelligence and integrity and attempted to fire Cook after she was the subject of criminal referrals for alleged mortgage fraud – no indictment has been issued against Cook, who is suing Trump to stop his ouster efforts.
Photo courtesy of the White House
