WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) joined her Senate colleagues in sending a letter calling on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut federal interest rates as a way to lower the costs of rent, mortgages, and housing construction. The Federal Reserve’s federal funds rate is the highest it has been in two decades.
“The Fed’s current interest rate policy is also having the opposite of its intended effect: it is driving up housing and auto insurance costs, which are currently the main drivers of the overall inflation rate,” wrote the senators. “This housing-related inflation is directly driven by high interest rates: reducing rates will reduce the costs of renting, buying, and building housing, reducing Americans’ single highest monthly expense.”
“The Fed’s monetary policy is not helping to reduce inflation,” they continued. “Indeed, it is driving up housing and auto insurance costs – two of the key drivers of inflation – threatening the health of the economy and risking a recession that could push thousands of American workers out of their jobs. You have kept interest rates too high for too long: it is time to cut rates.”
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Senator Rosen is fighting to lower everyday costs for hardworking Nevadans. She sent a similar letter earlier this year urging the Fed to cut interest rates to help lower mortgage costs. She has also introduced the Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation (HOME) Act to crack down on housing price gouging by corporate investors who are driving up home prices by buying up housing stock.
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