RALEIGH, N.C. – Today, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued the following statement after the former Fed monetary Vice Chairman Bill Dudley proposed that the Fed meddle in the presidential election to defeat President Trump:

“I am very disappointed that former Fed monetary Vice Chairman Bill Dudley is lobbying the Fed to use its authority as a political weapon against President Trump. The President is standing up for America against China after 30 years of our country and our workers being ripped off and there is now an effort to get the Fed to try to sabotage the President’s efforts. I’ll be talking to Chairman Crapo about holding a hearing in the Senate Banking Committee regarding Fed independence and the danger of this institution taking unprecedented and inappropriate steps to meddle in the presidential election.”

BACKGROUND

In an op-ed for Bloomberg, Dudley wrote:

“There’s even an argument that the election itself falls within the Fed’s purview. After all, Trump’s reelection arguably presents a threat to the U.S. and global economy, to the Fed’s independence and its ability to achieve its employment and inflation objectives. If the goal of monetary policy is to achieve the best long-term economic outcome, then Fed officials should consider how their decisions will affect the political outcome in 2020.”

###