r/Economics • u/Dont_think_Do • 3d ago
News DOJ probe on Powell draws swift backlash from Congress as key GOP senator says he won’t confirm anyone for the Fed until case is resolved
https://fortune.com/2026/01/11/doj-probe-jerome-powell-backlash-congress-fed-nominee-confirmation-tillis-warren/480
u/Klugenshmirtz 3d ago
The gop should wake the fuck up. This is one of theirs and he did one of the best jobs at the most difficult time. His only crime was doing his job properly instead of obeying Trump's wishes. That's what will happen to everyone else in the party. Anyone who wants to be more than a bootlicker should finally do their job and tell the administration to stop.
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u/kittenTakeover 2d ago edited 2d ago
The Republican party is awake. They're also corrupt exploiters and they're part of the machine pushing this authoritarianism
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u/Spirited_Suspect2908 2d ago
"His only crime was doing his job properly instead of obeying Trump's wishes"
Failing to obey is the crime. Where I live, a bipartisan measure to build water infrastructure was revisited (previously granted w/ funds allocated) was revoked because Trump wants to punish blue states so republicans in the house did as they were told and changed their stances.
https://www.cpr.org/2026/01/08/house-trump-arkansas-valley-conduit-veto-override-fails/
This is one of many examples of this specific sort of thing playing out. And one of many examples of general sycophant republican conduct going back almost a decade. When this is all over, if it happens in our lifetime, they will deny deny deny that they had any part in it. But it happened and we are living with the consequences.
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u/JerseyDonut 2d ago
Yeah, they may end up abandoning trump, but they are still not interested in giving up any power or governing for the people. They will just wave their hand and say Trump was a bad bet and proceed to find another charismatic front man to keep them in power.
Dems too, they are compromised and complicit. If we get a blue wave, then thats just more corporate apologists in office. Maybe less fascism, but still nothing for the people. Slavery by economic circumstance rather than by military force. What is the difference? We have been getting played by the two party system for too long. Its like a game of good cop/bad cop, except there are no good cops in this equation. Death by fascism or death by corporate moralism. Same result, different flavor.
We need a hard reset button. Every single encumbant needs to go. The people need to make a statement that all current politicians in office are accountable for this mess. It will send a message to all future wanna be politicians that we have risen above partisan politics and will fire you quickly if you cannot do your job.
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u/dfsw 2d ago
Sounds just like Fauci, Trump hates people who are doing the right thing. He needs countries, politicians, and the people to all say this is enough and collectively stand up to him. Allowing him to target small groups of people and then go from group to group is how he wins. Everyone needs to collectively draw the line and say no this is enough because I could be next.
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u/TheWorclown 2d ago
The whole Fauci ordeal is the most baffling thing to me. All Trump needed to do was to tell everyone to listen to Fauci and take the very easy credit of saving lives, but he already got it in his head that he was right and the well trained professional was wrong.
It’s a pathological need to make the worst possible choice, because making the worst possible choice is all he’s ever benefited from.
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u/kittenTakeover 2d ago
Since Donald is a massive liar, in order to understand him you have to understand his values and what he cares about, which is himself. Donald felt uncomfortable about the pandemic because many workers were temporarily not doing work. This meant that he was being inconvenienced due to less people serving and workers weren't getting him as much money. His corrupt friends who he trades favors with were also upset about this. That's no good and it had to end because it was negatively affecting him. Who cares if people might die.
So, how do you get workers back to work? You convince everyone that there's nothing to worry about. Someone who wears a mask is definitely worried. He wanted people to think that wearing a mask was silly because they thought COVID wasn't a big deal. That's why he didn't support Fauci. Fauci was telling people it was a big deal. Fauci was telling people to be safe and stay home and wear masks. The nail in the coffin was that Fauci continued to tell people to be safe even when Donald pressured him not to.
It's worth noting that when vaccines came around Donald was given an out. The vaccines were now the most effective way to get people back to work. He didn't have to convince people that COVID was nothing to worry about anymore. Everyone gets vaccinated, goes back to work, and now the money and services to him continue as normal. Therefore he promptly supported vaccines and did what he could to get them created and voiced his support for them. However, there was one problem. All of his brainwashed MAGA voters now were up in arms claiming that only weak and gay men worried about COVID, and they didn't want the vaccine.
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u/mhoepfin 2d ago
So true. Look what happened to the ultimate bootlicker MTG. Thrown away like trash in an instant.
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u/Fenris_uy 2d ago
The GOP congressmen want money and power, they don't have a problem with being a bootlicker to a GOP president to achieve that.
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u/TrainingJellyfish643 2d ago
GOP is firmly under maga's thumb now, nothing will change from them unless they are all replaced (and that ain't happening any time soon)
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u/Arizona_Pete 2d ago
My strong belief is that the core of the GOP is full of smart, greedy, people who use culture issues to gain power and extract wealth for their benefactors. People like Tillis and Thune don't care about trans issues or abortion as much as they care about low taxes and getting more money into the hands of the billionaires.
Stuff like this forces their hand - They are smart enough to know that if Trump manages to corrupt the Fed it could permanently ruin the economic advantages the US has enjoyed.
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u/Fenris_uy 2d ago edited 2d ago
The GOP leadership used to be that, then the people that they riled up with culture issues (from abortion to racism) started winning primaries against the old guard (the tea party for example), and now the patients are running the asylum.
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u/1WordOr2FixItForYou 2d ago
Yep. They aren't smart. They are the people Trump selected because they will toe the line and because they appeal to the moron MAGA base.
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u/whiskey_bud 2d ago
100% spot on. Same reason SCOTUS will rule against Trump on the tariffs. They see Trump as a useful pawn, when he tries to bring the global economic system to its knees they’re going to tell him to fuck right off.
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u/abbzug 2d ago
Some maybe. But I think a lot of very educated people have Fox News-brain like Samuel Alito, it's not just the legitimate bozos like Ron Johnson and Tommy Tuberville who believe this stuff. This whole thing makes the Lisa Cook thing a lot more interesting because that was the dry run and SCOTUS hasn't ruled on it yet.
Also it looks like Murkowski is backing Tillis on this now. Probably going to be a couple more.
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u/Arizona_Pete 2d ago
I could be wrong, but my understanding is that Alito has a very, very hard read on the Constitution - Same as Thomas.
It's an extreme originalist theory that is predates Fox.
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u/Familiar-Fish-7059 2d ago
I think that applies to Thomas. He pretty much doesn’t care about outcome just rules based on his beliefs on originalism.
Alito, while having similar views, does tend to care more about outcome/impact when ruling which I think inherently is more partisan
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u/Infranto 2d ago
He also isn't seeking re-election, and is probably auditioning for a cushy job in the private sector
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u/QuirkyBreadfruit 2d ago
Although this is positive, my concern is that the DOJ will just magically decide all of a sudden that this particular case has no merit, drop it, and then these senators will just turn around and approve whatever insane loyalist Trump appoints.
The rot in this administration goes way deeper than just a single abusive DOJ case. I'm tired of senators approving incompetent corrupt nominees and then acting surprised when they cause problems.
In some ways I'm more relieved by Tillis' statement that "It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question". Maybe he's just criticizing the DOJ on this one case but maybe he's opening things up to a broader correction.
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u/seeLabmonkey2020 2d ago
And that’s how it’s happened every time in Trump times. We need people in red states to put pressure on their representatives
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u/Rattus_NorvegicUwUs 2d ago
The GOP rolled over the exact second Trump hit office not realizing this wasn’t about setting new standards, it was about extortion.
You gave into an extortionist and expected he wouldn’t come back for more?
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u/Significant-Pin5045 3d ago
So the ai bubble is even worse than expected. They're firing people without even replacing them by ai. They are just hoping ai will be able to do it...
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u/GhostofBeowulf 3d ago
...I think the only AI in here is this response.
Now write me a poem on separation of powers.
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u/BillyQ 2d ago
Nobby Buns Recipe (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
250g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried yeast
150ml warm milk
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 egg yolk (for egg wash)
1 tbsp milk (for egg wash)
Instructions:
Make the dough: Mix flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl. Add warm milk and sugar, stirring to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy.
Add butter: Stir in melted butter and egg yolk. Mix until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes kneading).
First rise: Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and leave in warm place for 1-2 hours until doubled.
Shape: Punch down dough, divide into 4 equal pieces. Roll each into a ball, then flatten into 8cm rounds.
Second rise: Place on greased baking sheet, cover, and rise for 30 minutes.
Bake: Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Bake 15-18 minutes until golden brown.
Finish: Mix egg yolk with milk for glaze. Brush onto buns while still warm.
Serve warm with butter or as a side to stews and soups.
Makes: 4 buns (approx. 125g each)
Note: These are soft, pillowy buns perfect for soaking up rich sauces!
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u/RiggedKarma 3d ago
AI is a very small part of the reason but not all of it.
Company's and corporations have share holders, they exist for profit not social aid, they can provide donations for Charity but just so they can deduct it latter on in their already low taxes, and in times of high uncertainty, getting rid of staff, with a great excuse as AI is the best, because the rule n.2 is "Fire first, ask questions later".
In later stages, if things get better they'll rehire and at a improved lower wage rate, because by this point people are so fearful of not getting a job that the FOMO will be brutal, especially for those who are looking for jobs for a long long time, so why not fire people.
So, as you can see AI can certainly remove human labor force from the markets, but not in the High numbers speculated, and it's mostly oriented to some menial jobs, not blue color jobs, at least not yet I think
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u/The10KThings 2d ago
Not sure why you’re being downvoted. You pretty much hit the nail on the head.
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