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Economy
Fetterman and Senate GOP Confirm Trump 'Sock Puppet' Warsh as Fed Chair
"Warsh's confirmation is another step in Trump's attempt to take over the Fed. That's not good for working families—it's good for Wall Street," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
May 13, 2026
The US Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Kevin Warsh, the financier picked by President Donald Trump to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) joined with all Senate Republicans in voting to confirm Warsh, whose nomination was opposed by all other Senate Democrats except for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who did not vote.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent thanked Republican senators and Fetterman for backing Warsh's confirmation, which he predicted would "usher in a new day at an institution that is in need of accountability, sound policy guidance, and the renewed sense of purpose to help guide our economy."
Warsh's nomination has been controversial from the start given that Trump has repeatedly undermined the US central bank's independence by browbeating outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
After the confirmation vote, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warned that Warsh would try to carry out Trump's demands to lower rates, even as key metrics show that inflation has accelerated in recent months thanks to the president's illegal war with Iran.
"Trump wants to control interest rates, and he nominated Kevin Warsh to be his sock puppet," wrote Warren in a social media post. "Warsh's confirmation is another step in Trump's attempt to take over the Fed. That's not good for working families—it's good for Wall Street."
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he voted against Warsh's nomination because "working families are struggling more than ever to afford basic goods," and "they need a central bank that will fight for them, not the president and billionaires."
"I am not convinced that Warsh has the willingness to do what is best for the American people," Durbin added. "For that reason, I voted no on his nomination."
While Trump may want Warsh to start slashing interest rates to boost the economy, he likely faces an uphill climb in convincing other Fed board members.
Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics this week showed the consumer price index posted a year-over-year increase of 3.8%, the highest rate of inflation since May 2023, driven by energy prices that surged nearly 18% from the year before.
Additionally, the latest producer price index, which measures wholesale prices paid by businesses and is considered a strong predictor of future inflation, posted a year-over-year increase of 6% in April, indicating inflation will likely accelerate in the coming months.
During Powell's final meeting as Fed chair last month, the board voted to hold interest rates steady, with several board members indicating opposition to projecting future rate cuts in the near term given signals of rising inflation.
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House Democrat Warns Trump on Verge of 'Largest Single Act of Grand Larceny in American History'
"Trump is considering stealing billions of dollars from the American people" with a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, said Rep. Don Beyer.
May 13, 2026
Democrats in Congress are warning that President Donald Trump is on the verge of "stealing" billions of dollars from American taxpayers in the coming days as his Department of Justice reportedly considers settling his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the DOJ, headed by the Trump loyalist acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, was holding internal discussions about whether to settle the suit that was brought by Trump and his sons, as well as the family's business empire, in January.
The case centers on the IRS's leak of Trump's tax returns during his first term, which occurred after he broke decades of precedent by refusing to release them. The lawsuit alleges that the IRS failed to prevent former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn from unlawfully disclosing tax information to media outlets, for which he pleaded guilty in 2024.
The leaks, reported by The New York Times and ProPublica, revealed that Trump had engaged in what was described as “outright fraud” and other “dubious” schemes to avoid taxation, and that he paid no federal income taxes in many of the years leading up to his presidency.
The Trumps are seeking a payout of at least $10 billion from the IRS, which is currently being headed by Trump's handpicked Social Security Administration head, Frank J. Bisignano, who reports to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
This creates an extraordinary legal situation widely described as a blatant conflict of interest, since Trump is suing an IRS that he effectively controls, which is being represented by a DOJ he also effectively controls.
For a case to be valid, however, the parties must demonstrate that they are actually on opposite sides; otherwise, the case can be thrown out of court.
US District Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the Southern District of Florida, who is overseeing the case, questioned its constitutionality last month and required the parties to file briefs by May 20 demonstrating whether there is an actual conflict between them.
According to the Times, however, the DOJ is considering settling the case with Trump before that happens, and there'd be little Williams could do to stop it.
Not only could Trump walk away with a payout of several billion dollars—if not the full $10 billion he asked for—according to the Times, the White House and DOJ have also discussed a deal for the IRS to drop all audits into Trump, his family, and his businesses.
Presidents and vice presidents are required under IRS to undergo audits of their annual tax returns, and a 2024 Times report found that if Trump failed an audit, it could cost him more than $100 million.
Trump's presidency has been defined by him and his family profiting from their positions of influence. According to a live tracker from the Center for American Progress, Trump and his family have used the White House to rake in more than $2.6 billion worth of cash and gifts.
In addition to about $1.5 billion from their cryptocurrency ventures, which they've used the White House to promote, they have received direct gifts—like a $400 million luxury jet from the government of Qatar—and legal cash settlements from media and tech companies worth over $90 million. On top of the IRS lawsuit, Trump has also demanded that the DOJ pay him $230 million over past criminal investigations into him.
But if Trump received even a fraction of what he demanded in a payout from the IRS, it could make the graft from the first year and a half of his presidency look like pocket change, potentially netting him several billion more dollars and possibly even doubling his net worth.
"Trump is considering stealing billions of dollars from the American people," said Rep. Don Beyer (Va.), the ranking House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee. "He's already the most corrupt president ever by a wide margin, but this would be fraud and theft on a scale even he has never attempted. The largest single act of grand larceny in American history."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the ranking member on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, added that for the DOJ to hand Trump a settlement "before a court rules" would be a "massive, unprecedented scandal."
"Congress must stop him," the senator added, noting that she had introduced a bill last month that would bar presidents, vice presidents, and their families from collecting settlement payments from the federal government while in office. If they file administrative claims, Warren's bill would also require that the agencies be represented by independent counsels appointed by the court. However, her bill has gotten little traction in a Republican-controlled Congress.
Bharat Ramamurti, who served as the deputy director of the White House National Economic Council under former President Joe Biden, said the IRS lawsuit was a "massive scam" that was "much worse" than Trump's proposal for Congress to provide $1 billion in taxpayer money to pay for his White House ballroom project.
Of the IRS lawsuit, he said, "Democrats should raise hell over it."
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Economic Pain 'Just Beginning' as Key Index Shows More Inflation From Trump's Iran War
"The only thing Trump has made great again is inflation," said Rep. Brendan Boyle.
May 13, 2026
Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday showed continued upward pressure on prices, caused in large part by President Donald Trump's war with Iran.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures wholesale prices paid by businesses, posted a year-over-year gain of 6% in April, the largest yearly increase since December 2022.
Energy prices, which have surged since Trump launched an unprovoked war with Iran in late February, played a large role in raising wholesale costs, as the report finds "more than three-quarters of the broad-based increase in April can be traced to a 7.8% jump in prices for final demand energy."
However, energy prices aren't solely responsible for rising wholesale prices, as the so-called "core" PPI, which excludes the costs of food and energy, posted a yearly increase of 4.4% in April, the largest since February 2023.
PPI is seen as an important gauge of future inflation for consumers, as companies typically pass the costs they pay for inputs onto consumers in the form of price increases.
As explained by Groundwork Collaborative in a social media post, the wholesale costs measured by PPI "are what companies pay before they jack up prices on the rest of us."
"What's in the pipeline now is headed straight for your grocery bill and gas tank," Groundwork Collaborative added. "The pain isn't over. It's just beginning."
CNN economics reporter Elisabeth Buchwald similarly predicted more hurt for US consumers in the coming months, arguing in a Wednesday article that a 6% increase in PPI shows "the pain will not be short-lived."
"Even if the United States were to reach a deal with Iran today, it would still take months for shipments of oil held up by the blockade of the crucial Strait of Hormuz to reach American soil," Buchwald explained. "And even then, it would likely be months—or potentially years—before Americans see gas prices return to levels before the war."
Wednesday's PPI report came one day after the Consumer Price Index showed that consumer prices in April rose by 3.8%, the largest yearly increase since May 2023.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) reacted to the latest inflation data by ripping into the president's policy decisions, including the Iran war and the global trade war he started shortly after returning to office last year.
"The only thing Trump has made great again is inflation," Boyle, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, wrote in a social media post. "His disastrous policies—from his tariff taxes to his war in Iran—are making life even more expensive. We shouldn't be surprised the guy who managed to bankrupt a casino isn't an economic mastermind."
Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) linked the increased prices to Trump's desire to have Congress spend $1 billion of taxpayer money on his proposed White House ballroom.
"Oregonians need real relief from these high costs at the store and the pump," wrote Dexter. "We must stop the war in Iran and refuse to pay for presidential vanity projects. Oregon families want peace. They need a break, not a ballroom."
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'Hands Off Our Pensions': Belgian Workers Take to the Streets in General Strike Against Austerity Measures
It's the latest of several national strikes over the past year and a half against policies that one union leader said will heighten "inequality" and "poverty."
May 13, 2026
Much of Belgium ground to a halt on Tuesday as tens of thousands of workers flooded the streets of Brussels as part of a general strike against government austerity measures.
Schools closed, public transit operated with reduced service, and flights out of major airports were grounded as workers walked off the job. Instead, they marched through the capital clad in red and green, the colors of Belgium's major labor unions, with some carrying signs that read, "Hands off our pensions" and "We will not pay the price of their wars."
According to Morning Star, as many as 100,000 people took part in the strike, which was called by the nation's three biggest trade unions in protest of measures by Prime Minister Bart De Wever's government that the unions say slash pensions, reduce wages, and attack collective bargaining.
The marchers called on the government to roll back plans to raise Belgium's retirement age to 67 and have called for an end to what the unions have dubbed a “pension penalty” that would cut benefits for those who retire early.
Amid rising costs caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran, the unions are also outraged by a proposed temporary cap on wage indexation, which requires wages to rise in tandem with inflation.
It's part of a broader trend of the government loosening labor rules for employers, which unions say has led to longer, more irregular hours and diminished employees' work-life balance.
"People will have less money left over and will still have to work more flexibly and longer," said Ann Vermorgen, the chair of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions. "Even the Planning Bureau says that the reform will promote inequality and that poverty will emerge.”
Tuesday's general strike was just the latest over the past year and a half, as the unions have refused to let up on their push to reverse De Wever's agenda.
Gert Truyens, the chair of the General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (ACLVB), said that with the pension penalty and the other labor proposals, the government was displaying “total disregard” for social dialogue by “unilaterally imposing things without discussing them with the trade unions and employers.”
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