Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a scathing response to The Financial Times after the outlet published a story — which he labeled &#8220;explicitly false&#8221; — about his plans for the future of the Federal Reserve.
The <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9d1859f0-2f93-4ff1-8cfb-8046342bf9f7?syn-25a6b1a6=1">Financial Times</a> headline read, &#8220;Scott Bessent praised Bank of England as model for tighter oversight of Federal Reserve.&#8221; An X post promoting the piece followed the same general theme: &#8220;U.S. treasury secretary Scott Bessent discussed tightening the US Treasury’s oversight of the Federal Reserve by adopting elements of the Bank of England’s model.&#8221;
Bessent objected in a lengthy <a href="https://x.com/SecScottBessent/status/2037337495575134643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2037337495575134643%7Ctwgr%5E267dcd7cc78786bcb565c54c2e581946497d7248%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fsamj%2F2026%2F03%2F27%2Fscott-bissent-financial-times-n2426503">X post</a> of his own, explaining that as recently as 2025, he had written a comprehensive (<a href="https://www.international-economy.com/TIE_Sp25_Bessent.pdf">6,000+ words</a>) analysis of potential reforms for the Federal Reserve, and that he had never adopted a stance supporting a move toward the Chancellor-Bank of England statute for the relationship between the Treasury and the Federal Reserve.
&#8220;By publishing this explicitly false story, the @FT has officially become tabloid trash for market participants,&#8221; Bessent began, noting that he had gone on the record denying the premise of the story. &#8220;Despite my direct, on-the-record denial of ever having advocated, explored, or espoused the idea that Chancellor-Bank of England statute serving as a prototype for a Treasury-Federal Reserve relationship, FT journalists manufactured a story with the headline, &#8216;Scott Bessent praised Bank of England as model for tighter oversight of the Federal Reserve.'&#8221;
&#8220;These pathetic journalists have clearly fabricated a story to give the impression that both I and the Trump Administration are setting &#8216;about restructuring the relationship … at a time when President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented assault on the world’s most important central bank,'&#8221; Bessent continued, referring to the story as a &#8220;mendacious assertion&#8221; backed only by anonymous &#8220;financial industry executives.&#8221;
&#8220;In short, FT has literally manufactured an entirely fake policy position for me and the Administration,&#8221; Bessent said. He went on to say that he didn&#8217;t understand why The Financial Times would go ahead with such a story — which he said could only further damage their credibility as journalists — unless their sole priority was to paint a picture of discord and division in President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration.
&#8220;Over the past 10 years, I have written more than 20,000 words opining on the Federal Reserve decisions, personnel, structure, and modifications. Nowhere have I ever mentioned this ridiculous notion,&#8221; Bessent added. &#8220;The Governor’s letters to the Chancellor have proven to be a useless and perfunctory device. There is much to be said about the storied Bank of England, but any recreation of its operating framework on this side of the Atlantic has never been contemplated.&#8221;
Bessent concluded with one last shot at The Financial Times, saying, &#8220;The shameful journalists and editors at the FT are shocking in their meretriciousness, lack of standards, and general intellectual libertinism. It is the worst tradition of Fleet Street to manufacture news rather than report on it. They have brought irredeemable shame to their parent organization, Nikkei Inc., with whom I had previously held excellent relations.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.international-economy.com/TIE_Sp25_Bessent.pdf">Bessent&#8217;s argument</a> for change in the Federal Reserve had more to do with reining in &#8220;institutional bloat&#8221; and the &#8220;overuse of nonstandard policies&#8221; created to address specific issues.
&#8220;As we saw during the covid pandemic, when lab-created experiments escape their confines, they can wreak havoc in the real world. Once released, they cannot easily be put back into the containment zone,&#8221; Bessent explained. &#8220;The &#8216;extraordinary&#8217; monetary policy tools unleashed after the 2008 financial crisis have similarly transformed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy regime, with unpredictable consequences.&#8221;

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

‘Tabloid Trash’: Scott Bessent Issues Scathing Response To Media Story On Plans For The Fed

'Tabloid Trash': Scott Bessent Issues Scathing Response To Financial Times Story On Plans For Fed

Federal Reserve

Media

Politics

Scott Bessent

Treasury Department

WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve this week held interest rates steady, a shock to observers who assumed geopolitical tensions and rising oil prices may have moved the board to cut rates.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed in a Wednesday briefing that the board was holding steady as events in the Middle East played out.
“In the near term, higher energy prices will push up overall inflation,” Powell said, “but it is too soon to know the scope and duration of the potential effects on the economy.”
Fed Governor Stephen Miran, a Trump appointee, dissented from the decision, favoring a rate cut rather than maintaining the current range of 3.5% to 3.75%. 
“The thing I really want to emphasize is that nobody knows,&#8221; Powell added. &#8220;The economic effects could be bigger, they could be smaller or they could be much smaller or much bigger. We just don’t know.”
Stressing the unusually high level of uncertainty facing policymakers became a theme of Powell’s press briefing. 
Powell said the Federal Reserve is guided by past oil price spikes, which have typically been temporary and had little lasting impact on inflation. However, after five years of inflation running above its 2% target, he added that the Fed remains vigilant for signs of more persistent price pressures.
He also noted that the United States’ position as a net energy exporter could help offset some negative impacts. Higher oil prices may weigh on consumers worldwide, but they also boost profitability for domestic energy companies, potentially leading to increased drilling and investment. Over the longer term, sustained elevated oil prices could drive further expansion in domestic energy production, as firms respond to stronger incentives to increase supply.
One moment of certainty was the continued pattern of the Federal Reserve fighting persistent inflation and a weakening labor market.
Since September, Powell has emphasized the challenge of balancing the Fed’s dual mandate which is maintaining price stability while maximizing employment. “We are balancing these two goals in a situation where the risks to the labor market are to the downside which would call for lower rates and the risks to inflation are to the upside which would call for higher rates and not cutting.” Ultimately, the Federal Reserve chose to leave rates unchanged in an effort to balance these competing pressures.
Powell’s March meeting marked his second-to-last as Fed chair before his successor, Kevin Warsh, is sworn in. Powell confirmed that he will serve out the remainder of his term until Warsh is officially confirmed as chair.

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a press conference in Washington

Powell Urges Patience As Fed Holds Rates Steady Amid Iran Conflict

Economy

The Federal Reserve got it wrong again.
By refusing to cut rates yesterday, the Fed showed that it is still fighting yesterday’s inflation while ignoring today’s economy. The Federal Open Market Committee left its target range unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%. It also didn’t change the rate it pays on nearly $3 trillion of bank reserves, a disincentive for bank lending. Moreover, the difference between short-term interest rates on Treasury securities and long-term ones is ridiculously narrow. The one-month Treasury bill rate is about 3.7%. Given that the ten-year Treasury bond is yielding around 4.25%, that Treasury bill rate should be little more than 2 1/2%.
The Fed mistakenly believes prosperity causes inflation. By those misguided lights, our central bank should be cutting rates.
The labor market is plainly softer: February payrolls fell by 92,000. Fourth-quarter 2025 GDP was just revised down to a weak 0.7% annual rate. Those are not numbers that justify monetary paralysis. They are numbers that argue for relief.
Yet Jerome Powell persists in presenting this stance as prudence. It is not prudence. It is institutional vanity masquerading as caution. Powell said that the current stance of policy is “appropriate,” and he again leaned on vague uncertainty tied to developments in the Middle East. Central banking is supposed to be about weighing actual monetary conditions, not using every geopolitical tremor as an excuse for inaction. Monetary policy cannot prevent wars, but it can certainly make an already slowing economy weaker by keeping the price credit too high for too long. 
Worse, Powell’s comments about remaining in office as “chair pro tem” if no successor is confirmed were the most revealing part of the day. By saying he would stay on beyond the end of his current term if necessary, Powell projected exactly the wrong message: that the office belongs to him until the political system catches up. It does not. The Federal Reserve chairmanship is not a hereditary title, not a lifetime appointment, and certainly not a perch from which one signals permanence during a period of policy failure. Reuters reported <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/feds-powell-says-hell-stay-fed-leader-until-successor-confirmed-2026-03-18/">yesterday</a> that Powell said he would remain as Fed leader until a successor is confirmed. That may be legally arguable. It is politically tone-deaf and economically reckless.
The real issue is not just style. It is substance. High rates are not costless. They punish homebuyers, freeze housing activity, discourage business expansion, and increase the financing burden across the economy. Powell himself acknowledged yesterday that housing remains weak and that job gains have remained low. January retail sales were down 0.2%, hires in the JOLTS report were stuck at 5.3 million, and quits remained subdued at 3.1 million. The Fed has an institutional bias against vigorous economic growth. But even by its perverted lights, those numbers don’t convey a booming economy screaming for restraint. That is a country telling the Fed, in plain English, that the price of borrowing money is too high.
This is the chronic disease of modern central banking: officials are always late. They were late to recognize inflation when easy money was flooding the system, and now they are late to recognize disinflation as growth fades. Instead of admitting that policy works with long lags, the Fed clings to a backward-looking obsession with proving its anti-inflation credentials. It is as though Powell is determined to be remembered as “tough,” even if that means being wrong.
America does not need theatrical sternness from the Eccles Building. It needs sound money and common sense. Inflation has come down. Growth has slowed sharply. Employment has weakened. Credit-sensitive sectors are under strain. The right move was not another pose of caution. It was a rate cut.
The Fed missed the moment. Again.
And Powell’s insinuation that he may simply remain in place until Washington resolves his succession only adds arrogance to error. The central bank needs humility, not self-importance; discipline, not drift; and above all, leadership that understands that keeping rates too high for too long is every bit as damaging as holding them too low for too long.
* * *
Steve Forbes is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

US-ECONOMY-POLITICS-FED-RATE-POWELL

The Fed Missed The Moment. Again.

Forbes

Interest Rates

Jerome Powell

Bitcoin plunged on Thursday, its decline accelerating amid weakening risk sentiment driven in part by volatility in precious metals and a broad selloff in tech shares.
The world&#8217;s largest cryptocurrency fell to a low of $66,675.12, its weakest since October 2024, a month before President Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, having signaled his intention to support crypto on the campaign trail. It was last down 6.5% at $67,817.
All told, the global crypto market has lost $2 trillion in value since hitting a peak of $4.379 trillion in early October, CoinGecko data showed, with some $800 billion wiped out in the last month alone.
Bitcoin has already fallen 11% for the week, taking its losses for the year so far to 23%. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, was down more than 7% at $1,973 on Thursday. Ether has fallen nearly 14% this week, with losses of roughly 34% so far this year.
Sentiment on crypto was affected by the latest selling in metals and stocks. Gold and silver, for instance, have become more volatile as a result of leveraged buying and speculative flows. Silver, for one, fell as much as 16.6% to a low of $73.41.
In equities, the S&amp;P 500 slid to near two-week lows, and the Nasdaq sank to its lowest level in more than two months on Thursday, as the AI theme came under renewed pressure.
&#8220;It&#8217;s clear the crypto market is now in full capitulation mode,&#8221; said Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of Coin Bureau. &#8220;If previous cycles are anything to go by, this is no longer a short-term correction, but rather a transition from distribution to reset &#8211; and these typically take months, not weeks.&#8221;
The latest crypto tumble has knocked down shares of companies holding bitcoin and other digital assets, stoking worries that the market turmoil is spreading beyond token prices.
Trump&#8217;s selection of Kevin Warsh as his pick to become the next Federal Reserve chair has also affected the price of cryptocurrencies, due to expectations that he could shrink the Fed&#8217;s balance sheet.
Cryptocurrencies have widely been regarded as beneficiaries of a large balance sheet, having tended to rally while the Fed greased money markets with liquidity — a support for speculative assets.
&#8220;The market fears a hawk with him,&#8221; said Manuel Villegas Franceschi from the next generation research team at Julius Baer. &#8220;A smaller balance sheet is not going to provide any tailwinds for crypto.&#8221;
To be sure, cryptocurrencies have struggled for months since a record crash last October sent bitcoin tumbling from a peak as leveraged positions got washed out. That has left investors less keen on digital assets, and sentiment toward the industry fragile.
&#8220;We believe this broader decline is mainly driven by massive withdrawals from institutional ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These funds have seen billions of dollars flow out each month since the October 2025 downturn,&#8221; Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note to clients.
They added that U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs witnessed outflows of more than $3 billion in January, following outflows of about $2 billion and $7 billion in December and November, respectively.
&#8220;This steady selling in our view signals that traditional investors are losing interest, and overall pessimism about crypto is growing,&#8221; the analysts said.
Bitcoin&#8217;s fortunes have been tied to the broader tech sector for some time. The price tended to rise, particularly on the back of investor enthusiasm over artificial intelligence.
This week&#8217;s rout in global software stocks has accelerated the slide in the value of bitcoin, ether, and other tokens.
Market watchers are starting to question if this decline marks the start of a steeper correction.
&#8220;Concerns are being raised around the crypto miners and whether we could be looking at forced liquidations if prices continue to fall, which could lead to a vicious cycle,&#8221; Jefferies strategist Mohit Kumar said in a note.
&#8220;Our view on crypto has always been that it should be never more than a very small portion of the overall portfolio. However, it is also an asset class that is heavily owned, particularly by retail investors, and hence adds to the overall market risk,&#8221; Kumar said.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York, Rae Wee in Singapore, and Amanda Cooper in London; Additional reporting by Lucy Raitano in London; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Joe Bavier, Will Dunham, and Jan Harvey)

Illustration shows representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin

Bitcoin Plummets, Driving $2 Trillion Slide In Crypto Market Value

Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency

Donald Trump

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Friday nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin M. Warsh to serve as the board&#8217;s next chairman.
Trump&#8217;s long-awaited <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-names-next-fed-chair-pick-he-will-never-let-you-down?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Names+Next+Fed+Chair+Pick%3A+%E2%80%98He+Will+Never+Let+You+Down%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> comes after months of the president vowing to replace outgoing chairman Jerome Powell. Warsh came as a bit of a surprise, as conventional wisdom had coalesced around three candidates: National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, BlackRock executive Rick Rieder, and Fed governor Christopher J. Waller.
In a Truth Social post, the president said that Warsh would &#8220;go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best.&#8221; Warsh will need Senate confirmation to take his post, though with a Republican majority in the Upper Chamber, it seems likely that he will soon take the reins at the Fed.
Warsh began his career on Wall Street as an investment banker for Morgan Stanley before joining the Bush administration as an economic adviser in 2002. President George W. Bush named him to the Federal Reserve Board in 2006, where, at 35, Warsh became the youngest governor in the Fed&#8217;s history.
Warsh played a key role during the 2008 financial crisis, helping coordinate the central bank’s response. He was involved in efforts surrounding the government rescue and bailout of AIG and the emergency deal that led JPMorgan Chase to acquire Bear Stearns as markets unraveled.
After leaving the Fed in 2011, Warsh joined the board of UPS and became a distinguished visiting fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution. Warsh met his wife, Jane Lauder, while they were undergraduates at Stanford University. Lauder is the daughter of Ronald Lauder, the heir of the Estée Lauder Companies and a close friend of President Trump. Lauder <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/15/ronald-lauder-billionaire-donor-donald-trump-ukraine-greenland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> gave Trump the idea to purchase Greenland.
Warsh has gained a reputation as a fiscal hawk. “The United States is not Greece,” Warsh <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/kevin20100628a.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a 2010 speech. “We have the largest, most robust economy in the world. We have the deepest, most liquid financial markets. And the dollar is the world&#8217;s reserve currency, bestowing key advantages upon us. But, none of this is our birthright. It must be earned, and re-earned.”
He warned the Fed’s post-crisis stimulus could spark inflation and argued against expanding quantitative easing, pushing for a tighter monetary stance and a smaller Fed balance sheet.
He has argued that decisions over which assets the central bank buys and holds influence market pricing in ways he believes are better left to the Treasury Department. Like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Warsh once worked for investor Stanley Druckenmiller, and has suggested that artificial intelligence could boost growth without reigniting inflation.
He has also drawn a firm line around the Federal Reserve’s role, stating, “The Federal Reserve is not a repair shop for broken fiscal, trade, or regulatory policies.”
Despite his reputation as a hawk, Warsh has recently argued for lower interest rates and sharply criticized Powell for moving too slowly.
“Their hesitancy to cut rates, I think, is actually quite a mark against them. It’s as if they’ve lost some of the credibility. Truth is, in economics and inflation, bygones are not bygones. The specter of the miss they made on inflation, it has stuck with them. So, one of the reasons why the president, I think, is right to be pushing the Fed publicly is we need regime change in the conduct of policy.”
Still, in December, the chief economist of Deutsche Bank <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/interest-rate-changes-could-be-on-the-way-under-kevin-warsh-trump-s-pick-for-fed-chair-11895919" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that “although Warsh has argued for lower rates recently, we do not view him as structurally dovish.&#8221;

Day Five Of The Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

Who is Kevin Warsh? Meet President Trump’s Pick To Chair The Federal Reserve

Greenland

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was nominating economist Kevin Warsh to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. 
Warsh, a critic of the current chair Jerome Powell, will need to be confirmed by the Senate. Trump has battled with Powell over interest rates and has even floated firing him. 
“I am pleased to announce that I am nominating Kevin Warsh to be the CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is &#8216;central casting,&#8217; and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin!”
Warsh is currently an economist at the Hoover Institution, a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a partner at the Duquesne Family Office investment firm.
He was previously an economic policy advisor to President George W. Bush. He became the youngest Fed governor ever at 35 when he was nominated to the board of governors in 2006, a role he served in until 2011.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/the-long-campaign-of-kevin-warsh-e5bd26d6?siteid=yhoof2&amp;gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqdRm4kYWggpj1R8e-KL3-W5GGSrzrk8qvYRGFi75VF3a2FY2TDC4cc4OLjNu40%3D&amp;gaa_ts=697ca692&amp;gaa_sig=Kknzr6M6zFvuYJQa1uZKanpbHXZdkVYTZ_KmKd3E2YI43hUqQsdYQY9i8O-plIHPTtP1BAdEV3IAHER_y7HSZA%3D%3D">reported</a> that Warsh played a “crucial behind-the-scenes roles in Washington’s rescue of Wall Street during the financial crisis&#8221; of 2008.
If confirmed, Warsh would take over from Powell when his term as chair ends in May. Trump again <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115978487020569325">ripped</a> into Powell on Thursday for not cutting interest rates, accusing him of damaging the economy and undermining national security. 
Trump on Friday commented on speculation that he would nominate National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. 
“There was great speculation that highly respected Kevin Hassett was going to be named Chairman of the Fed, and a great Chairman he would have been but, quite honestly, he is doing such an outstanding job working with me and my team at the White House, that I just didn’t want to let him go,” Trump wrote soon after announcing the Warsh pick. “Kevin is indescribably good so, as the expression goes, ‘if you can’t do better, don’t try to fix it!’ Thank you Kevin for doing such a great job!”
Trump has battled with the Federal Reserve throughout much of his second term. Earlier this month, the Justice Department launched a criminal probe into Powell over statements he made to the Senate about a costly renovation of the Federal Reserve. The Supreme Court is also considering whether Trump has the authority to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook.

Trump Names Next Fed Chair Pick: ‘He Will Never Let You Down’

Economics

WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters) — Conservative and liberal U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled skepticism on Wednesday toward President Donald Trump&#8217;s bid to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook in a case with the central bank&#8217;s independence at stake.
During about two hours of arguments in the case, the justices indicated they were unlikely to grant the Trump administration&#8217;s request to lift a judge&#8217;s decision barring ​the Republican president from immediately firing Cook while her legal challenge continues to play out.
Some of the justices pressed D. John Sauer, the U.S. solicitor general arguing for Trump&#8217;s administration, about why Cook was not given a chance to formally respond to the unproven mortgage fraud allegations — which she has denied — that the president cited as justification to oust Cook. They also raised concerns about the effect on the economy of such a first-ever presidential firing from the central bank and the implications for the Fed&#8217;s cherished independence from political influence.
The case represents the latest dispute to come to the top U.S. judicial body involving Trump&#8217;s expansive view of presidential powers since returning to office 12 months ago.
When the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, agreed in October to hear the case, they left Cook in her job for the time being.
&#8220;This case is about whether the Federal Reserve will set key interest rates guided by evidence and independent judgment or will succumb to political pressure,&#8221; Cook, who attended the arguments, said in a statement afterward.
&#8220;For as long as I serve at the Federal Reserve, I will uphold the principle of political independence in service to the American people,&#8221; Cook added.
&#8216;DECEIT OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE&#8217;
Sauer told the justices that the allegations against Cook impugn her &#8220;conduct, fitness, ability or competence to serve as a governor of the Federal Reserve.&#8221;
&#8220;The American people should not have their interest rates determined by someone who was, at best, grossly negligent in obtaining favorable interest rates for herself,&#8221; Sauer said.
&#8220;Deceit or gross negligence by a financial regulator in financial transactions is cause for removal,&#8221; Sauer added, arguing that the allegations require immediate removal.
Cook has called the allegations against her a pretext to fire her over monetary policy differences as Trump heaps pressure on the central bank to cut interest rates and lashes out at Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not doing so more quickly.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts asked Sauer to explain whether his argument that Cook should be immediately removed applies if the basis of the mortgage allegations — that she cited two different properties as a principal residence — is an &#8220;inadvertent mistake contradicted by other documents in the record.&#8221;
Sauer responded that, even if Cook made a mistake on mortgage paper, &#8220;it is quite a big mistake.&#8221;
Roberts seemed skeptical, telling Sauer &#8220;we can debate that.&#8221;
Paul Clement, the lawyer arguing for Cook, told the justices that the allegations against Cook arise from &#8220;at most an inadvertent mistake&#8221; on a mortgage application concerning a vacation property.
Trump&#8217;s move against Cook is seen as the most consequential challenge to the Fed&#8217;s independence since it was formed in 1913. Until now, no president had sought to oust a Fed official.
A Supreme Court ruling is expected by the end of June.
&#8216;A MILLION HARD QUESTIONS&#8217;
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito expressed concern that the administration had handled the case &#8220;in a very cursory manner.&#8221; Though the case involves Trump&#8217;s asserted cause to fire Cook, Alito said, &#8220;No court has ever explored those facts.  Are the mortgage applications even in the record in this case?&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s a million hard questions in this case,&#8221; Alito said.
In creating the Fed, Congress passed a law called the Federal Reserve Act that included provisions meant to insulate the central bank from political interference, requiring governors to be removed by a president only &#8220;for cause,&#8221; though the law does not define the term nor establish procedures for removal.
Clement told the justices that Trump&#8217;s position would transform tenure protections for Fed governors into &#8220;at-will employment.&#8221;
&#8220;That makes no sense,&#8221; Clement said. &#8220;There&#8217;s no rational reason to go through all the trouble of creating this unique, quasi-private entity that is exempt from everything from the (congressional) appropriations process to the civil service laws, just to give it a removal restriction that is as toothless as the president imagines.&#8221;
Roberts expressed doubts about Sauer&#8217;s arguments that the president&#8217;s assertion of a cause is not reviewable, or that judges cannot reinstate a fired officer.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh expressed doubts about the real-world effects of the administration&#8217;s arguments.
&#8220;Your position,&#8221; Kavanaugh told Sauer, &#8220;that there&#8217;s no judicial review, no process required, no remedy available, very low bar for cause that the president alone determines — I mean, that would weaken, if not shatter, the independence of the Federal Reserve.&#8221;
Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett also questioned why the Trump administration has denied Cook a hearing to defend herself, saying that it &#8220;would not have been that big of a deal&#8221; for Trump to sit down with Cook and lay out the alleged evidence against her.
Barrett also asked Sauer about the practical implications of allowing Trump&#8217;s firing of a Fed governor.
&#8220;We have amicus (friend-of-the-court) briefs from economists who tell us that if Governor Cook is (fired), that would trigger a recession. How should we think about the public interest in a case like this?&#8221; Barrett asked, adding: &#8220;If there is a risk (at this preliminary stage of the case) doesn&#8217;t that counsel caution on our part?&#8221;
Sauer said that Cook was notified in August of her termination, and that has not affected the markets. Sauer urged the justices to weigh the predictions of doom for the U.S. economy by economists in briefs submitted in the case supportive of Cook with a &#8220;jaundiced eye.&#8221;
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in September ruled that Trump&#8217;s attempt to remove Cook without notice or a hearing likely violated her right to due process under the U.S. Constitution&#8217;s Fifth Amendment. Cobb also found that the mortgage fraud allegations likely were not a legally sufficient cause to remove a Fed governor under the law, noting that the alleged conduct occurred before she served in the Fed post.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined Trump&#8217;s request to put Cobb&#8217;s order on hold.
&#8216;YOU&#8217;RE FIRED&#8217;
Conservative and liberal justices alike posed sharp questions to Sauer on his contention that Cook was not entitled to formal notice and a hearing before removal by the president.
Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch asked Sauer what such a hearing would look like and whether Cook would have a right to legal counsel. Sauer responded that the court in the past has been very reluctant to &#8220;dictate procedures to the president&#8221; and that it would be up for Trump to decide.
&#8220;Calling Ms. Cook into the (White House) Roosevelt Room, sitting across a conference table, listening for, I don&#8217;t know how long, how much evidence is a lawyer required, and then making a decision? Could that suffice?&#8221; Gorsuch asked, adding: &#8220;Just a meeting across a conference table finished with, &#8216;You&#8217;re fired&#8217;?&#8221;
Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas asked Sauer on what basis should the justices conclude that the Fed is &#8220;an executive branch agency and hence that the president does have a removal authority.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s an academic dispute about whether or not the Federal Reserve&#8217;s Open Market operations constitute executive power or something else, essentially private conduct. However, Congress has over the years kind of packed on traditional executive powers on the Federal Reserve,&#8221; Sauer replied.
As a Fed governor, Cook helps set U.S. monetary policy with the rest of the central bank&#8217;s seven-member board and the heads of the 12 regional Fed banks. Her term in the job runs to 2038. Cook was appointed in 2022 by Democratic former President Joe Biden as the first Black woman to serve in the post.
Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pressed Sauer to reconcile two seemingly conflicting positions: his claim the president has broad discretion to remove a Fed governor and his recognition that Congress included tenure protections for Fed governors to shield the Fed&#8217;s independence from White House interference.
&#8220;How does that further the aims of the statute?&#8221; Jackson asked.
Alito voiced skepticism toward Clement&#8217;s argument that a Fed governor&#8217;s conduct before taking office cannot provide a basis for removal by the president, asking Cook&#8217;s attorney to address a series of increasingly egregious hypothetical scenarios.
&#8220;How about if, after the person assumes office, videos are disclosed in which the office holder is expressing deep admiration for Hitler or for the Klan?&#8221; Alito asked.
AGENCY INDEPENDENCE
In prior cases, the Supreme Court chipped away at the independence of various federal agencies from presidential control, and could soon overrule a key precedent that has shielded the heads of independent agencies from removal since 1935.
But the court last year signaled it may view the central bank as an exception, noting in a May ruling that let Trump remove two Democratic members of federal labor boards that the Fed possesses a unique structure and historical tradition.
The Supreme Court has backed Trump in a series of emergency rulings since he returned to the presidency on immigration, mass federal layoffs, cutting foreign aid, dismantling the Education Department and other matters.
The president sought to fire Cook on August 25 by posting a termination letter on social media citing the mortgage fraud allegations disclosed by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee.
The administration ‍this month opened a criminal investigation into Powell over remarks he made to Congress last year about a Fed building project, a move he similarly called a pretext aimed at gaining influence over monetary policy.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Additional reporting by Jan Wolfe, John Kruzel and David Lawder in Washington and Ann Saphir in San Francisco; Editing by Will Dunham)

SCOTUS, Lisa Cook, Donald Trump

Supreme Court Appears Reluctant To Let Trump Fire Fed’s Lisa Cook

Supreme Court

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced on Friday that he was under investigation, and claimed that President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration was using the threat of an indictment as a punishment for his refusal to lower interest rates at the president&#8217;s direction.
Powell posted a video in conjunction with a <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20260111a.htm">press release</a> on Saturday, explaining the Trump administration&#8217;s rationale for launching the probe and then pivoted to say that he believed the real reasons for the investigation were political.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: <a href="https://t.co/5dfrkByGyX">https://t.co/5dfrkByGyX</a> <a href="https://t.co/O4ecNaYaGH">pic.twitter.com/O4ecNaYaGH</a>
— Federal Reserve (@federalreserve) <a href="https://twitter.com/federalreserve/status/2010510130970849338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;On Friday, the Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas, threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June. That testimony concerned in part a multi-year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings,&#8221; Powell said.
&#8220;I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law,&#8221; he added, before turning to suggest that the Trump administration was retaliating against him for refusing to adjust interest rates to the president&#8217;s satisfaction. &#8220;But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration&#8217;s threats and ongoing pressure.&#8221;
&#8220;This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress&#8217;s oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project,&#8221; Powell claimed, arguing that the president was simply using those reasons as cover. &#8220;Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.&#8221;
&#8220;This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I have served at the Federal Reserve under four administrations, Republicans and Democrats alike. In every case, I have carried out my duties without political fear or favor, focused solely on our mandate of price stability and maximum employment. Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do, with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.&#8221;
Trump has repeatedly threatened to either fire Powell or sue him — as recently as late December — and has accused him of &#8220;gross incompetence.&#8221;

Fed Chair Powell Speaks At Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce 2025 Economic Outlook Luncheon

Jerome Powell Claims Trump Admin Launched Probe To Threaten Him Over Interest Rates

Daily Wire Investigative Reporter Luke Rosiak details his reporting on governmental waste and fraud before Congress, controversy swirls around Zohran Mamdani’s administration-to-be, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) gives us an inside look at Minnesota’s fraud scandal.
It’s Thursday, December 11, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251211-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dei-fraud-exposed-mamdanis-radical-moves-12-11-25/id1576594336?i=1000740820041" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Senate Digs Into DEI Fraud</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1013133" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/8a-Ate-Billions-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/8a-Ate-Billions-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/8a-Ate-Billions-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/8a-Ate-Billions-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/8a-Ate-Billions-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/8a-Ate-Billions.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The Senate is investigating a multi-billion-dollar DEI fraud scheme, as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates, sending markets soaring. 
Senate drills into DEI: The Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program was initially intended to offer support for those deemed “socially and economically disadvantaged.” Under the Biden administration, federal agencies were instructed to ensure 15% of all contracts were given to businesses operated by minorities or women, meaning billions of taxpayer dollars were awarded based on race and gender in what became one of the largest DEI programs in the country.
Not only was the program intentionally excluding people based on race, but it was also ripe with fraud. Daily Wire Investigative Reporter Luke Rosiak documented countless cases in which minority business owners would win a contract, then outsource all the work to non-minority-owned businesses, pocketing most of the money in the process.
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Small Business held a hearing to address the fraud, and Rosiak testified about his findings.
“8A creates a random group of influence peddlers who like lobbyists, get rich by selling their access to government insiders to the benefit of big businesses, while driving up the cost for all of us. This is the kind of thing people hate about Washington. You owe it to voters to end this program,” <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/1998848540135555157?s=20">said</a> Rosiak.
Interest rates: On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board voted to cut interest rates by a quarter point to the 3.5%-3.75% range. That means rates have now come down by nearly 2% over the last year and a half. They’re now at their lowest point in more than three years.
There was not unanimous agreement from the voting members of the Fed Board. For the first time in six years, three of the twelve officials cast dissenting votes, with two saying cuts weren’t needed, and one saying the cut should be bigger.
Essentially, the disagreement stems from whether the Fed should prioritize the labor market, which has slowed significantly, or inflation, which remains well above the target range of 2%. Typically, rates are raised when inflation is high, and lowered when the labor market is cool. Ultimately, the Fed Board, led by Chair Jerome Powell, viewed the labor market as a more pressing matter, and said these cuts would help with hiring and unemployment. 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Mamdani’s Rule Already Stirring Controversy</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1013135" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Mamdani-Doubles-Down-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Mamdani-Doubles-Down-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Mamdani-Doubles-Down-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Mamdani-Doubles-Down-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Mamdani-Doubles-Down-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Mamdani-Doubles-Down.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: As New York City braces for a seismic shift in leadership with democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani taking the helm as mayor next month, a wave of controversy is erupting over his early moves.
Many political pundits, particularly those on the Right, warned that Mamdani would endanger public safety and undermine law enforcement, and now they say they’re seeing evidence for these claims even before he has officially taken office.
One of the most talked-about moves came just days ago, when Mamdani put out a video addressed to immigrants living in New York City. In it, he <a href="https://x.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1997801475066745259?s=20">told</a> viewers they have the right to “stand up to ICE.”
Critics argue this goes beyond merely explaining constitutional rights. Some say it could embolden illegal aliens, even those with criminal records, to resist or evade lawful ICE action.
Mamdani’s transition: The transition team has been an explosive topic as Mamdani has tapped Mysonne Linen to be a key voice on justice reform on the “Committee on the Criminal Legal System.”
Linen was once a rising hip-hop star signed to Def Jam. But in 1999, he was convicted of two armed robberies where he held up taxi drivers at gunpoint. He served seven years and was paroled in 2006.
He then rebranded as a Black Lives Matter activist and co-founded Until Freedom with Linda Sarsour, a controversial pro-Palestinian activist who has also served as a Mamdani advisor.
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The choice has driven law enforcement apoplectic. Correction officers’ union head Benny Boscio called it “disheartening and deeply disturbing.” Retired NYPD brass such as John Chell see a pattern with Mamdani filling his team with anti-cop firebrands like black nationalist Lumumba Bandele, defund-the-police guru Alex Vitale, and others.
Mamdani says he just wants a broad array of “experiences and analysis” to draw from.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">What’s Behind The Massive Somali Fraud Scandal?</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1013137" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Congressional-Minnesota-Probe-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Congressional-Minnesota-Probe-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Congressional-Minnesota-Probe-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Congressional-Minnesota-Probe-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Congressional-Minnesota-Probe-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Congressional-Minnesota-Probe.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The sweeping fraud allegations coming out of Minnesota have sparked demands for more investigations and further action from political leaders in D.C. to protect against billions more in taxpayer dollars getting funneled into the hands of fraudsters. Morning Wire spoke with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th congressional district, about the scandal. (This interview has been lightly edited.)
Morning Wire: We have this massive fraud scandal continuing to unravel this week. What do you believe were the most critical oversight failures within the Walz administration? And how should Minnesota restructure its safeguards to prevent this from happening again?
Emmer: The first thing you do is you got to get rid of [Minnesota Democratic Governor] Tim Walz and [Minnesota Attorney General] Keith Ellison and [Congresswoman] Ilhan Omar. I mean, there&#8217;s your biggest structural problem right there. Let me put some context around this for your viewers, your listeners. … The facts are this: today, there are roughly 80,000 Somali immigrants that are living in Minnesota. The vast majority of them live in Minneapolis or Hennepin County–an area called Cedar-Riverside. … Tim Walz and Keith Ellison cannot get votes in greater Minnesota. Think about this: in the last election, Tim Walz outspent the Republican candidates $15 million to $1.7 million, and he won with 52%, just over 52% of the vote. If you look a little deeper, we have 87 counties. Tim Walz only won the 13 metro counties. We&#8217;ll go a little farther. If you look at the 74 counties that he lost, he got 37% of the vote, including losing his former congressional seat by eight points. So, what is this about? This is about the fact that when he and Keith Ellison took office, Keith Ellison instantly set up a policy in his attorney general&#8217;s office that required his approval before any further investigations into fraud could go forward. Guess what? He&#8217;s never approved one of them. … And it&#8217;s not that all Somali immigrants are bad. It just so happens that 90% of the crimes we&#8217;re talking about have been committed by people that are in the Somali community. And by the way, they have been sending millions back to Somalia into the hands of Al-Shabaab, a known terrorist group. So, if you look at Keith Ellison, he won by a little less than one point in his last election. What is this all about? This is all about them getting re-elected. They need that 60 to 80,000 Somali population. They need them to be voting for them. That&#8217;s what this is all about.
Morning Wire: You mentioned the word accountability. We do have some individual actors being convicted, but what about on the government level? What about some of these officials? Is there any action being taken to hold people accountable if they looked the other way knowingly? What investigations are going on with that, and what do you hope to see pursued?
Emmer: Look, I think our U.S. Justice Department is starting to pick up where Minnesota should have been involved investigating not only the fraud but who might have been not just incompetent but actively engaged in the fraud because they should be criminally held, criminally responsible. You&#8217;ve got Dr. Oz, who&#8217;s investigating a fraud on the Medicaid program. You&#8217;ve got Kelly Loeffler, who&#8217;s investigating fraud in the SBA program. You got Kash Patel, who&#8217;s busy with his team investigating Somali gangs that have frankly been running rampant in the Twin Cities committing crimes and no one will hold them accountable for it.

MRN_251211_V2

Morning Brief: DEI Fraud Exposed, Mamdani’s Radical Moves, & Minnesota Scandal Reveals Fault Lines

Morning Brief: Senate Digs Into DEI, Mamdani Picks Stoke Controversy, And The Politics Of MN Fraud

Keith Ellison

Minnesota

Morning Wire

New York City

Tim Walz

Zohran Mamdani

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in a case that could change the way presidents interact with the massive federal bureaucracy.
At issue in the case, Trump v. Slaughter, is whether a president has the authority to fire officials from independent agencies. Rebecca Slaughter, a former Federal Trade Commissioner, sued the president for removing her from the commission in March. Over the day&#8217;s three-hour proceeding, the court&#8217;s six conservative justices seemed inclined to side with President Donald Trump. Doing so would upend the way the federal bureaucracy interacts with the executive branch — a win not just for Trump, but for small-government conservatives anxious to claw back power from the &#8220;deep state.&#8221;
Slaughter’s team argues that independent agencies like the FTC have long-standing statutory protections allowing commissioners to be removed only “for cause” rather than “at will.” The team also insisted that these protections are essential for preserving agency independence, preventing partisan interference, and maintaining the separation of powers.
“We are asking the court to adhere to all of its precedents and to give effect to the collective wisdom and experience of all three branches of government,” said attorney Amit Agarwal. “Multi-member commissions with members enjoying some kind of removal protection have been part of our story since 1970.”
Solicitor General John Sauer contends, however, that Slaughter&#8217;s case rests on a precedent he called a “decaying husk.&#8221; Relying on the 1935 case, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, &#8220;continues to tempt Congress to erect, at the heart of our government, a headless branch,” he argued.
Sauer acknowledged, however, that not all independent agencies are alike. In response to a question from Justice Brett Kavanaugh about how the Federal Reserve differs from the FTC, Sauer said the Fed was “sui generis” and should be treated as such.
Kavanaugh was frequently at odds with Justice Elena Kagan throughout oral arguments.
“Once you’re down this road, it’s a little bit hard to see how you would stop,” Kagan <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25-332_p8k0.pdf">said,</a> arguing that giving the president control of the bureaucracy would essentially cede power to the executive.
Kavanaugh pushed back, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25-332_p8k0.pdf">noting</a> that &#8220;the real world of this is the independent agencies shift power from the presidency to the Congress. Everyone recognizes that.&#8221;
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In the email notifying Slaughter that she was being fired, the White House <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/12/trump-v-slaughter-an-explainer/">said</a> that allowing Slaughter to remain on the commission would be “inconsistent with [the] Administration’s priorities.” Former President Joe Biden appointed Slaughter to her second term at the Federal Trade Commission, which would have ended in 2029.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision on the president’s authority to dismiss Slaughter by June 2026. If the Supreme Court sides with President Trump, Slaughter’s attorneys <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/12/trump-v-slaughter-an-explainer/">argue</a> the decision “would profoundly destabilize institutions that are now inextricably intertwined with the fabric of American governance.”

Supreme Court Confronts Trump’s Power To Disrupt Global Economy

Supreme Court Seems Likely To Give Trump Power To Remove Independent Agency Heads

Courts

Executive

Federal Trade Commission

D.C. is abuzz today ahead of President Trump’s meeting with Mamdani, fallout from the Epstein files mounts, and the September jobs report smashes expectations.
It’s Friday, November 21, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251121">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-meets-mamdani-epstein-fallout-continues-11-21-25/id1576594336?i=1000737766180" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump vs. Mamdani</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1003857" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Despite the pair’s verbal battle during the New York City mayoral race, President Donald Trump plans to meet with far-Left Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday afternoon.
There’s been a lot of back-and-forth between Trump and Mamdani. Trump even said during the mayoral campaign that he’d <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-warns-mamdani-no-federal-cash-for-a-communist-mayor">withhold federal fundin</a>g from New York City if Mamdani were to win. Since Mamdani has since won, that threat presumably now looms large. The meeting could be a chance to build a relationship, however.
Mamdani’s olive branch: It was Mamdani who reached out to Trump. He also changed his tone on Trump ahead of the meeting. During a presser on Thursday, Mamdani seemed to draw some parallels between himself and the president. That could be interpreted as an olive branch–but also as a self-serving comparison. 
“We ran a campaign focused on the … cost of living. And what we found actually is that one in 10 New Yorkers who voted for Trump ended up voting for our campaign, and they did so because they&#8217;re looking for leaders to actually deliver on the cost of living crisis,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r6dYDsL_-c">said</a> Mamdani.
That is a far cry from Mamdani’s mayoral victory speech when he said he’d be “Trump-proofing” New York City and called Trump a “despot.”
What about Trump? Trump, too, seems open to the meeting. He obviously accepted the meeting request, and he also said this week that he wants to see “everything work out well for New York.”
What to expect: As for the agenda, Mamdani said he wants to talk to Trump about public safety, economic security, and affordability for New Yorkers.
“Affordability,” though, seemed to be Mamdani’s pitch to New Yorkers who really don’t like Trump and might not like him taking this meeting. Mamdani stressed that he’d work with anyone to bring down costs, and he acknowledged that he does need the White House. He needs funding from the federal government if he really wants to help New Yorkers.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">What Comes Next On Epstein Files</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1003859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: After years of sealed documents and whispered allegations around Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump has signed the bill forcing the release of the Epstein files, as new emails and texts are already leaking.
The order directs all documents to be produced, but there are exceptions carved out for the protection of witnesses’ and victims&#8217; identities, for national security, and for ongoing probes. Those exceptions could still delay some of these documents.
At the same time, victims such as Annie Farmer, who testified alongside Virginia Giuffre&#8217;s family, are still <a href="https://x.com/OfTheBraveUSA/status/1963256584127013360">hailing</a> this as a long overdue victory.
The measure now requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all unclassified Epstein documents within 30 days, including flight records, emails, and plea deal details. 
The Trump flip:  The Trump and the White House previously opposed this full release of the files, but earlier this week, the president made a prominent turnaround in messaging.
One reason the White House resisted the release for months prior was that it felt the vote would be premature. Eventually, though, all of those objections melted away in the face of vociferous public pressure from people and critics who wanted answers.
President Trump ended up urging Republicans to vote for it because, as he posted on social media, “we have nothing to hide.” Trump has additionally called for a new investigation into various Epstein associates, including former President Bill Clinton and others.
What to watch:  There are many layers to this. One of those is the perception of Trump&#8217;s past association with Epstein, which appears to have hurt him, as well as his resistance, for a time, to releasing all the documents.
But this has been damaging for Democrats as well. The documents already released show that Epstein fed questions to Democratic Delegate Stacey Plaskett during a congressional hearing in 2019. On Tuesday, Plaskett <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1990899465318785072?s=20">characterized</a> her communication with Epstein as simply receiving texts from a constituent.
Many other figures have been wrapped up in the Epstein files, as well, including former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. He continued to communicate with Epstein up until 2019, long after Epstein had been put in jail.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Jobs Report A Mixed Bag Ahead Of December Fed Meeting</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1003861" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The September jobs numbers are finally here after data was delayed nearly two months over the government shutdown. While administration officials are excited about the data, a new poll shows Americans may not be as optimistic about the direction of the economy.
The data: The headline number from the report is the 119,000 jobs added in September. It is the highest gain since April, and it came in more than double economists’ expectations for the month. Downward revisions for July and August’s numbers stole some of the momentum, coming in 33,000 lower than previously reported.
The unemployment rate ticked up slightly from 4.3% to 4.4%. Overall, the administration says it is happy with the numbers.
“In the first 10 months of the Trump economy, we&#8217;ve increased take-home pay by about $1,200, adjusting for inflation. That&#8217;s a huge, huge thing,” <a href="https://x.com/JDVance/status/1991541104966267022">said</a> Vice President JD Vance on Thursday. “And this is really important … we are seeing the job growth go to native-born American citizens” rather than to illegal aliens.
Looking ahead: This jobs report is particularly important because it’s the only snapshot of the labor market ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting on December 9 and 10.
Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, <a href="https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1991512177430134943">expects</a> the Fed to hold interest rates steady.
Long points out that even though the jobs report has good numbers in September, the economy’s four-month average ending in September is only 44,000–just barely “treading water.” Labor force participation is up, a good sign even as the unemployment rate ticks up. But, according to Long, “it&#8217;s hard to argue things look *better* in the labor market.” It has largely remained steady, with no significant gains or losses.
Is Trump in trouble? Americans overall are not optimistic about the direction the economy is heading.
Fox News released its latest national <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-voters-say-white-house-doing-more-harm-than-good-economy">survey</a> on Wednesday. According to Fox News, “Some 76% of voters view the economy negatively–worse than the 67% who felt that way in July and the 70% who said the same at the end of … President Biden’s term.”
The news gets worse for Trump, specifically. According to Fox News, “About twice as many [respondents] say President Donald Trump, rather than Biden, is responsible for the current economy. And three times as many say Trump’s economic policies have hurt them,” about the same as said Biden’s did last year.

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Morning Brief: Mamdani At The White House, Epstein Files Loom, & Mixed Jobs Report

Morning Brief: Trump-Mamdani Meeting, Epstein Files Incoming, And September’s Mixed Jobs Report

Department of Labor

Jeffrey Epstein

Pam Bondi

WASHINGTON—The first Friday of every month usually brings one of the government’s most closely-watched economic indicators: the monthly jobs report.
The Federal Reserve relies on the report to make policy, while news outlets — and their readers — look to the monthly jobs report as an indicator of how the economy is doing. And the White House usually trumpets the jobs numbers to celebrate or defend its handling of the economy.
Thanks to the government shutdown, we aren’t going to get September&#8217;s job report.
The jobs report set to drop last Friday would have said that the United States added 50,000 jobs in September, economists estimate. That’s 32,000 more jobs than the previous month, but 200,000 fewer than September of last year. And while significantly down from highs in mid-2022, inflation is up from earlier this year at 2.9% for the 12 months ending in August.
But that’s all we’re getting so long as the government is shut down. Out of 2,055 employees at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), only one is still reporting for duty.
Even if that one employee wanted to put out the report, he couldn’t: the Antideficiency Act bars federal agencies from carrying out normal operations during a lapse in appropriations, unless their work relates to “emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property.”
Jobs numbers may not be essential under the shutdown’s legal definition, but they are a critical input for the Federal Reserve, which has to make a decision on interest rates later this month.
“You know, it is such an unusual situation,” Powell said at last month’s Federal Reserve meeting. “Ordinarily, when the labor market is weak, inflation is low; and when the labor market is really strong, that’s when you’ve got to be careful about inflation.” Powell added that it’s a situation “where we have two-sided risk, and that means there’s no risk-free path.
Powell did note that the risk of a persistent inflation outbreak is down, allowing the Fed to pursue policy in the direction of neutrality. In September, the Fed Committee voted to lower the fed funds rate by a quarter percentage point.
Polymarket, the largest crypto-based prediction market platform, is predicting an additional 25-basis-point cut on Wednesday. Typically, the Fed avoids cutting rates when inflation is above 2%. But last month, it cited a weakening labor market as justification for the cut. With odds of a 25-basis-point cut at 90%, traders on Polymarket are expecting the Fed to cite a weakening labor market again.
This is the latest dustup in a bumpy year for the Federal Reserve.
In late August, President Trump called for the firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook refused to resign, stating that the president did not have the authority to do so because the Federal Reserve is an independent agency.
And while Cook and Trump’s feud just began last month, the president has been sparring with Powell for most of his second term.
Last week, President Trump took to Truth Social to state, “I really believe that Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell is an OBSTRUCTIONIST!”
In July, President Trump brought his transgressions in person when he toured the Federal Reserve construction project, noting the “cost overruns are substantial.”
The conflict notably escalated in April 2025 when Trump posted on Truth Social that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough!”
While not having fired anyone at the Fed, President Trump did fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, whom he claimed “RIGGED” jobs numbers. He nominated Heritage Foundation economist EJ Antoni to lead the Bureau, but the White House has since pulled the nomination.
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Regardless of who’s at the Bureau’s helm, job numbers won’t be released until the government reopens. And without Friday’s jobs numbers, the Federal Reserve will be forced to turn to alternative sources.
Speaking at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce today, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic offered insight into alternative data reports.
“We have a survey center,” Bostic explained. “We do a bunch of surveys of businesses — for example we ask CEOs what’s your hiring plan for the next twelve months, what’s the likelihood you will reduce prices in the next quarter to get an idea of what actual decision makers are doing.”

The Government Shutdown Means There’s No September Jobs Report. Is That Bad?

Government Shutdown

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