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Raphael Warnock: ‘The Big Ugly Bill Will Put The United States On A Disastrous Fiscal Path’
Forbes Breaking News
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6/30/2025
During Wednesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) questioned Fed Chair Jerome Powell about the Big Beautiful Bill.
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00:00
is next. Thank you, Chair Scott. Thank you, Chair Scott, and thank you, Chair Powell. Good to see
00:07
you. The United States national debt currently exceeds $36 trillion. Last year, we paid nearly
00:15
$1 trillion in interest on the debt alone, more than the federal government spent on educating
00:22
and feeding our children. Chair Powell, how does the Fed consider rising national debt levels during
00:30
discussions about adjusting interest rates? We really don't. We take fiscal policy as
00:37
completely exogenous, and we look at the data that's coming in, but we're never going to take
00:42
into account budget deficits and things like that. Well, here is my concern. Maybe Congress
00:48
should be thinking about it. The world is losing faith in America's ability to repay our debt.
00:54
We have seen a sell-off in the bond market. The United States dollar has lost more than 10%
00:59
of its value against the euro and pound and is down against nearly every single major currency
01:06
in the world. Back in May, Moody's downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating because of
01:13
growing debt and sinking confidence in lawmakers' willingness to address this issue. Historically,
01:20
high debt pushes up interest rates, slowing economic growth and setting up a dangerous
01:26
debt cycle where both interest rates and debt continue to rise. Chair Powell, how does the size
01:34
and the trajectory of the national debt affect the Federal Reserve's ability to manage inflation
01:40
in good economic times and spur investment and hiring in slower economic times? I'm happy to say
01:49
that today, those things do not affect our ability to do our job. The concern really is that if we don't
01:56
do something, then there will come a time at which it will be a problem, not for us, but for the
02:01
country. But at this time, it does not interfere in any way with our ability to do that. That is a
02:06
realistic concern in the future, given the rate of increasing debt. And it's something I'm concerned
02:13
about. And maybe because it's in the future, maybe that's why, you know, folks who have power, who sit in
02:19
these jobs, aren't as concerned about it as perhaps the Congress should be. I'm concerned about it as a
02:26
grandfather of a six-year-old and an eight-year-old. I'm concerned that my Republican colleagues are
02:33
planning to ram forward a bill that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will increase the
02:38
deficit by $4.2 trillion. So I want us to think about that. We're taking food out of the mouths of
02:48
hungry children. This bill could cut as many as 16 million Americans off of health care.
02:58
When we think about Medicaid, 71 percent of the Medicaid recipients in Georgia are children.
03:03
So we're taking their health care, and then we're saying to these children that you'll have to deal
03:09
with these trillions of dollars in debt one day. $4.2 trillion increase. Senate Republicans are trying
03:16
to use a budget gimmick to claim the bill only costs a fraction of that by simply not counting
03:23
things they don't want to count. If they don't like the math, they just change the formula.
03:28
But the markets and those investing in our country don't care about these budget tricks.
03:32
And I don't think it will help my six-year-old and my eight-year-old when the bill comes due on
03:36
this. They know the truth, and they will react based on the truth. The big, ugly bill will put the
03:42
United States on a disastrous fiscal path, and it will be catastrophic for our economy. Even worse,
03:49
the big, ugly bill is cutting people off of their health care, and for what purpose to give tax cuts
03:55
to the wealthiest. So this is an interesting moment for me, for someone who didn't know I'd end up in
04:01
politics, who just paid attention to politics over the years. They're getting ready to create a whole lot
04:08
pain for a lot of people. And the question is, for what purpose? To give billionaires a tax cut? I think
04:18
we ought to work together to prioritize extending tax cuts for the working class. We shouldn't be
04:25
cutting their health care. We ought to save the country trillions of dollars by not giving more
04:32
tax breaks to the richest Americans. And if we try to work together, we can save our economy from this
04:39
disaster and still protect working families from a tax hike. I believe in tax cuts. I think working class
04:48
Americans ought to give them, ought to receive them, and that we ought not be burdening our children with
04:54
all of this debt. With that, I yield, and the chairman should take note, that the Baptist preacher is
05:00
done with three seconds left. And the people today-
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