Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell defended the Fed's staffing levels during a congressional hearing, rejecting Elon Musk's recent assertion that the central bank is 'absurdly overstaffed'. Powell emphasized the hard work and expertise of the Fed's employees, particularly their crucial role in navigating the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refuted Elon Musk 's assertion that the Fed is overstaffed during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. Powell was providing testimony before the Senate Banking Committee for a semiannual update on monetary policy and the economy. He was questioned by Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., regarding whether the central bank is overstaffed. 'No, I would say that, you know, overworked maybe, not overstaffed. Everybody at the Fed works really hard,' Powell responded.
Musk recently stated that the Federal Reserve is 'absurdly overstaffed' and suggested the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could conduct an audit of the Fed. He had previously criticized the Fed's monetary policy decisions. Powell previously stated that the Fed undergoes a meticulous budgeting process to determine its staffing levels. At Tuesday's hearing, he also elaborated on the role played by the Federal Reserve's workforce during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it relied on the expertise of long-term employees. 'When the pandemic hit kind of out of the blue and economies all over the world are shutting down, the U.S. Treasury market is stopping to function, companies can't roll over their commercial paper, economists are writing about a depression. People at the Fed who went through the global financial crisis 10 years before stepped forward to say, ‘We got this,’' Powell explained. 'We know what to do. Here's what we do with money market funds, here's what we do with companies that can't get any financing. The markets were closed, and companies were having maturing debt that they had to roll over.' 'The people who knew what to do in that pretty dire emergency were working at the Federal Reserve and at other places, but I will tell you, it was impressive,' he added. 'Really, our work during that acute phase of the crisis was very successful, and it's entirely due to the knowledge base that resides with career people at the Fed.' Following his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Powell is scheduled to appear before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday to deliver his semiannual update on monetary policy and the economy to House lawmakers
FEDERAL RESERVE JEROME POWELL ELON MUSK STAFFING MONETARY POLICY CONGRESS ECONOMIC POLICY
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