Josh Gottheimer Asks Jerome Powell If Iran Might Launch Cyberattack Against The Federal Reserve

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During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) asked Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell about the threat of a cyberattack on the Fed.

Transcript

00:00Chairman. Chairman Powell, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, I'm deeply concerned

00:04about the threat of Iranian cyber attacks on our financial system as retaliation for our strikes

00:09on their nuclear facilities. In his cybersecurity report last year, the Fed acknowledged that

00:12critical infrastructure, including financial services, is at risk with rising geopolitical

00:17tensions. Iran has a history of targeting American infrastructure companies and financial

00:20institutions and banks, which could obviously threaten and cause economic damage. What actions

00:26is the Fed taking now to monitor and defend against Iranian or proxy cyber threats targeting

00:30our country's financial institutions? So we're in touch with the other regulators

00:36and the parts of the government that work on cyber, as you know, and, you know, we're in

00:42touch with the banks to say, you know, for people to be on the alert for things like that

00:48to happen. And also, we're on the alert because, you know, we're a target as well. So you're

00:52right to raise it. It's a, you know, it's a big issue. And I feel like you have the resources

00:56right now to be prepared for that? Yes. I mean, I think we do. We're, you know, we've,

01:01we spend a lot and the government generally spends a lot on these things and we've, we've,

01:07but, you know, you can never, ever be comfortable in this area because, you know, the bad guys

01:11are always getting better. So we need to keep to get better. Thank you, Chairman. Switching

01:16gears, the president and members of his administration have recently called you out

01:21various name calling for certain decisions you've made. I know that some people worry

01:26that the president's bullying will impact your decision making. I know you work together

01:31and I know that and respect, obviously, your independence greatly. Anything you want to

01:35add and give you a chance to reiterate your independence to the American people?

01:40Yeah, I just, I would just say we're, we're focused on one thing and that is we want to

01:45deliver a good economy for the benefit of the American people. That's it. And anything else is

01:51kind of a distraction. I don't mean to refer to any particular thing, but we stay focused on that

01:55task all the time. We always do what we think is the right thing to do. And, you know, we live

02:01with the consequences and that's, I don't know how else to do the job. Right. So the name calling

02:06and the Mr. Too Late and all that stuff, we shouldn't, the American people shouldn't worry

02:10about that. You're focused on being independent. Just, yeah, that's what I care about. I care about

02:14doing the job for the American people. The things we do matter a lot for people's lives

02:19and that really concentrates the mind. You know, you, you want to just stay focused on

02:25that task. As long as you're sitting in these chairs that we occupy, focus on that task,

02:29do what you think is the right thing and take the consequences.

02:32Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You've previously stated that you've used stable coins as a form

02:36of money. Payment stable coins are already being used for both retail and wholesale payments,

02:40as well as for settlement. Recently, this committee passed the Stable Coin Act and the Senate

02:43passed the Genius Act, both aiming to establish clear regulatory frameworks for fully

02:47reserved dollar-backed payment stable coins. Given their design to maintain a stable value and be

02:52redeemable for U.S. dollars, should the SEC or other regulators explore treating these

02:56stable coins as cash equivalents for accounting or financial reporting purposes?

03:01Let me say, I think it's a great thing that bills are moving. We need a stable coin framework.

03:06On that particular issue, I don't have a view for you. I can come back to you on that.

03:09I'd be grateful. Thank you. High rates have also caused, as we've discussed,

03:16the cost of paying off our nation's debt to skyrocket. The CBO estimates that interest

03:20payments will cost the U.S. a trillion dollars in fiscal year 2026 and continue to rise to almost

03:251.8 trillion by FY2035. How do you see us continuing to be able to afford to pay off our

03:31debt at this rate? And as the U.S. continues to borrow, how does that impact your decision

03:34to keep or cut rates? Obviously, foreign countries like Japan, who are significant buyers

03:40of our bonds, have started decreasing their purchases significantly. Other internal pressures

03:44worldwide are having that impact. Are you worried about this global issue?

03:49You know, fiscal policy really is not our job, and it's not something we take into consideration

03:55in making monetary policy. That's really elected people's jobs. And I would add that, you know,

04:02for some time now, the U.S. federal fiscal policy has been on an unsustainable path. And,

04:08you know, I'll limit myself to that.

04:13Last question. Last week, you chose to keep rates steady. And families in our state, as you'll hear

04:18from a lot of people today, are really struggling with the higher cost of borrowing and putting off

04:22bigger purchases on things like cars and homes. As a result, their wallet's being crushed by these

04:26price hikes and, obviously, the president's tariffs. What do you have to say to Jersey families

04:30who are struggling with higher costs and how you look at how they should forecast themselves for

04:34their own families? We're committed to returning inflation sustainably to 2% and keeping it there

04:41in the long run. And what we're doing now is, you know, we had cut rates by 100 basis points,

04:47so they've come down quite a bit. And, you know, when the time is right, I expect that that will

04:53continue. And that will depend on economic factors, you know, in the coming

04:59longer.

05:06If you have any questions, you'll see if you can get started.

05:08Please note that there is no doubt about where you're going, you know, in the coming

05:14day and knowing where you're going. So, you'll definitely won't keep the rates

05:15of going down and knowing where you are at the end of the day. So, let's have a big

05:16view of what you're going to call when you're going to keep the rates of anxiety.

05:17So, you know, this is a lot of people that are mostly in the coming

05:19days. So, a lot of people you're going to have a lot of things like thank you for

05:20any of the most of the level of the last thing that was on. And今,

05:22you're going to keep a big deal with your health. And then,

05:23I think you're going to find a lot of success. And if you

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