'Special Report' All-Star Panel on Biden tapping Powell again for Fed chair

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Dems are disconnected because they don't care about ramifications: Domenech

Special Report’ panel discusses the ongoing inflation as President Biden appoints Jerome Powell as Fed chair.

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report" on November 22, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: If you look at my presidency so far, it's a jobs presidency. And it's a small business presidency. While other countries are stumbling out of this pandemic, we are racing ahead. We are in a position to attack inflation from the position of strength, not weakness. And I believe Jay is the right person to see us through and finish that effort.

REP. KEVIN BRADY, (R-TX): We are seeing not just the highest inflation in 30 years since the president took office, it's actually on par to be the highest inflation in 40 years. And both the president, the speaker, and the Fed has gotten this wrong for most of this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Well, President Biden nominating the current Fed Chair Jay Powell to another four-year term. Still has to go up to Capitol Hill. But that is not making progressives very happy, that and a number of other developments.

Let's bring in our panel, FOX News senior political analyst Brit Hume, Ben Domenech, publisher of "The Federalist," Juan Williams is a FOX News analyst, and Trey Gowdy, former Congressman from South Carolina.

Brit, some people were surprised that Jay Powell was nominated again, that there might have been this effort to kind of say that that's a Trump era appointment and move on. But the markets, obviously, thought it was OK.

BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think a lot of people were surprised, perhaps, but probably relieved as well, because with Biden, you don't know what kind of a lulu he might nominate to an important job like that. And I think a lot of people thought that Jay Powell did well. He responded promptly and forcefully when the economy started to crater in the COVID shutdowns and the pandemic, flooding the economy with cash.

Now, of course, now we have a problem, and the problem is inflation, which was possibly a predictable result of all of that and other policies as well. So he faces a challenge of trying to get inflation under control. And no matter what Biden says about we are going attack inflation, when you attack inflation, there is no way to do it when it is a pleasant experience for the economy or the people in it. It never has been. So, this is -- it's often described as taking the punch bowl away, which is a rather gentle way of saying that you are going to make money tighter and it's going to be tough for people. So that is the challenge he faces. I suspect he will be confirmed, Elizabeth Warren notwithstanding.

BAIER: Trey, putting the lulus aside, Jay Powell obviously has an uphill battle here, and he -- some people argued that he didn't act because he wanted to keep this job.

TREY GOWDY, FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA REPRESENTATIVE: Well, Bret, Elizabeth Warren said he was dangerous and a failed leader, so I am struck by how little influence she has within the Democrat Party. She openly campaigned for him not to get this reappointment, and he is. But there are progressives like Sherrod Brown and others who have spoken highly of him. So given how badly the comptroller of the currency nominee is, and she is not going to make it through, Jay Powell will make it through, and Elizabeth Warren's influence continues to be about the same as the members of your panel tonight.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: Juan, what about progressives and where they're feeling it. They've obviously handed this bill, Build Back Better, from the House to the Senate. But most, including Ro Khanna, expect it to come back in a different version. And some are worried that it's not going to be good enough for them to pass.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think the news here is a matter of progression, that what we know is that Speaker Pelosi, President Biden, the majority leader in the Senate, the Democrat Chuck Schumer, have all been in touch as the bill made its way through the House and now comes to the Senate where Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, those two senators who have had some concerns are waiting. But it's not going to come to them cold. It will come to them as a part of this larger ongoing discussion.

But I think it's a very important point to say here that President Biden clearly is no socialist. He's no Bernie Sanders. He is not even Elizabeth Warren calling for more regulation of banks to help consumers because Jay Powell has been opposed that that. And so what we get here is somebody who is like a mainstream, centrist, status quo nominee. The markets went up as a result.

And I think what you are going to see from Joe Biden going forward, and with Jay Powell's help, is talk about the fact that this administration and this control of the Fed has led to 5 million new jobs, which is a record in this calendar year. You have seen the stock market grow 25 percent in this year, which is amazing. And we have seen GDP, now forecasted is it's going to be five percent, which would be the most since, I think, 84.

BAIER: Right, and obviously we also we saw inflation at a 31 year high, and there are a lot of people, Juan, looking at Joe Biden as a candidate and what he legislatively is pushing, saying that he is far more left than he was on the campaign trail.

Speaking of left, here is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, congresswoman from New York, saying to "The New York Times" "There is an enormous amount of executive action that they're sitting on that I think is underutilized on student loans. We've got executive action on the table with respect to climate. There are certainly things that we can do with immigration. Frustration is there, and it's part of why the progressive caucus was holding out on passing both of these two pieces of legislation together, because we're like, listen, we're not going to take these empty promises anymore." But, Ben, neither is Joe Manchin as far as what that bill contains.

BEN DOMENECH, PUBLISHER, "THE FEDERALIST": It seems to me that when you look at the situation that Democrats face right now, they are just in this ticking clock scenario, where you are not going to be able to get anything out of any future congresses, so you are trying to get as much as you can out of the existing one.

It's one of the reasons why the congressional leadership under Nancy Pelosi really didn't care about all these fights over committee membership and the like. They don't really care what's happening because they are all headed toward the exits. And when it comes to what is happening under their watch currently, they are really just disconnected from any of the kind of ramifications politically that they could be facing when it comes to the midterms because they don't really care about it anymore.

And this is the downside of the lessons that were learned under the Obamacare experience where you basically shove something through that was unpopular without any kind of expectation that you were going to be able to run on it in the future. And I think in this scenario the same sort of thing is cropping up under the Build Back Better plan and everything that's going to come under it. There is no expectation that you are going to run on this in a way that's going to support your ability to come back to the Congress.

BAIER: Well, speaking of running on it, Brit, the White House confirming that President Biden is planning on running again in 2024, telling allies that. This as approval ratings are dropping not only for him but for Vice President Harris. What do you make of that public declaration now about 2024?

HUME: I don't think it's at all clear that he intends to run again, but I do think as a political matter, you have to say that, because if you suggest or hint or outright say that you are not going to run again, that makes you instantly a lame duck. And lame duck presidents don't do well. People -- their influence wanes overnight.

So I think this was boilerplate in a sense, but boilerplate that had to be uttered. I think it's a far cry from certain he will run again and he will be in any condition to. In fact, I think the thing we have to watch is the question of whether he serves out his first term. He's clearly deteriorating. He's clearly senile. And his health, despite his doctor's claims to the contrary, when you are falling down stairs and so on, as he did climbing the stairs to Air Force One, that's worrisome.

BAIER: Looking live at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There's an event for military families there ahead of Thanksgiving. Air Force One pulled up to hanger there, and there you see President Biden meeting the military members at Fort Bragg.

Trey, just follow up on what Brit said there about this announcement and the state of the Democratic Party that it feels, I guess, needs to put out that now.

GOWDY: I have no idea about the president's cognitive abilities. That's not my background. He has always had an affected manner of speech for 25 years. So whether he runs, he may not be alone. There are a lot of ambitious young Democrats that didn't think he was going to be the nominee this time, including his vice president, near as I can recall. She ran, although she got the same number of delegates that all of us got. She did run. So, whether he runs and whether he is the nominee are two different things.

BAIER: All right, panel, stand by. When we come back, tomorrow's headlines with you all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, a look at tomorrow's headlines with the panel. Trey, first to you.

GOWDY: Bail reform advocates are silent as career criminal out on bail wreaks havoc, including killing children, in Wisconsin.

BAIER: Tragic story. Juan?

WILLIAMS: The Ahmaud Arbery jury begins considering the case tomorrow in Georgia. And also in Virginia, in Charlottesville, that civil case seems to be potentially deadlocked. So a lot of flash points in the legal system coming up in tomorrow's headlines all

BAIER: All right, Brit?

HUME: The Biden administration says it had to renominate Jerome Powell to head the Fed because after the nomination the president made for comptroller of the currency, there had to be somebody who still supports the U.S. financial system.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: All right, Ben?

DOMENECH: Hungry nation Googles "tofurky recipes." The shortages that we have seen across the country when it comes to Thanksgiving standbys have had a lot of people trying to find new recipes to satisfy things. My sister has already said she will disown me if any I make anything less than a normal turkey for Thanksgiving this week. So we'll see how that plays out.

BAIER: I usually cover things fairly, but tofurky is really heinous. But thank you, panel. I appreciate it, happy Thanksgiving if I don't see you.

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