Free Republic

Congressional Republicans have begun discussing whether they may have to vote to block President Trump’s planned new tariffs on Mexico, potentially igniting a second standoff this year over Trump’s use of executive powers to circumvent Congress, people familiar with the talks said. The vote, which would be the GOP’s most dramatic act of defiance since Trump took office, could also have the effect of blocking billions of dollars in border wall funding that the president had announced in February when he declared a national emergency at the southern border, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because...

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin startled financial analysts, bankers and economists Sunday by issuing an unusual statement declaring that the nation's six largest banks had ample credit to extend to American businesses and households...Two Trump advisers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the calls would stoke unnecessary alarm. "No one thought we were at crisis level," one of these people said. "It's going to create more of an issue than we had already." Mnuchin and the president had a call on Saturday to talk about how to reassure the markets. Aides said that Trump knew the Powell story hurt the...

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday suggested the central bank could be close to slowing down the pace of its recent interest rate increases, saying rates are now just slightly below what he considers a “neutral” level. His comments marked a sharp change from his position last month, when he said the Fed still had a “long way” to go before it reached that equilibrium. U.S. stock markets soared on Powell’s comments, as he appeared to signal that the Fed would not move forward aggressively to raise rates much further than it already has. Still, by saying rates were...