Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire urged United States President Joe Biden to fire Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for allegedly "misleading" America regarding inflation.
He said that if he were president he would remove Yellen from her post, arguing that she did not want to take responsibility for the bad news. Sununu said that it was part of being in public service, taking the bad with the good.
Sununu vs. Yellen
The governor's remarks come as inflation has remained at a four-decade high and gas and food prices are still hitting consumers' pocketbooks. These economic struggles are expected to be among the issues front and center in November's midterm elections that could decide who takes the majority control of Congress.
The Treasury Secretary, after insisting that inflation was "transitory" last year, acknowledged during an interview in May and admitted that she was "wrong." She said she made a mistake in what path inflation would take and argued that she did not fully understand the situation at the time, as per the New York Post.
Furthermore, the New Hampshire governor also predicted a recession is on the horizon, criticizing Yellen for saying that the outcome was "not inevitable." He said, "You cannot add $5 trillion onto America's balance sheet and just hope it goes away. The recession is coming. The Fed, I think, has known this for a while."
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Sununu claimed that the Fed kind of ignored the issue and should have been easing the country into the right rates and where it needed to more than a year ago. He also acknowledged that gas prices are beginning to subside after hitting around $5 per gallon on average. However, he noted that home heating costs are expected to soar to record rates this winter.
According to Politico, the New Hampshire governor's remarks come as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday that the U.S. can stave off a recession, despite concerns that the Federal Reserve's tightening of interest rates to combat inflation could spur an economic downturn.
Serious Recession
During an interview, Raimondo cast doubt on the possibility of a "serious recession," though she predicted that there would be high economic growth from the depths of the pandemic that would likely cool to a "more steady growth."
When asked if the U.S. will be able to avoid a recession if interest rates continue to increase, the official responded by saying, "I think we can." Raimondo added that at some point, the country would see less rapid growth in the economy but said there was no reason to think that there would be a serious recession.
The official added that the "fundamentals" of the U.S. economy are "very strong" and noted that tackling inflation is the "top priority." She said that authorities have recovered all the jobs that were lost since the pandemic began.
Raimondo noted that people's household balance sheets are strong, adding that companies are doing well and were already hiring and growing, gaining back losses from the last couple of years, ABC News reported.
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