Jerome Powell

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over reg relief policies instituted by the central bank, signaling that some progressive lawmakers may be reluctant to give him a second term.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the market dislocations of the past year resulting from the pandemic had changed the impact that the supplementary leverage ratio was having on the largest banks. After temporarily easing the requirement, the central bank is considering longer-term reforms.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is dismissing claims that loose monetary policy has led to rising home values and shrinking inventory and insists that the market is buoyed by creditworthy borrowers and investors.

The heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury are urging passage of legislation that would replace Libor with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate in certain contracts. That would spare banks litigation over trillions of dollars of contracts when Libor expires in 2023.

As government debt swells, the outer limits of what the U.S. can safely borrow are becoming less and less clear.

The Federal Reserve is credited with containing damage to the financial system from the coronavirus pandemic, but experts say the limits of the central bank’s power to prop up the economy will likely become more apparent in the new year.

The central bank will prolong the life of the Commercial Paper Funding Facility and three other programs while returning congressionally approved funds for five separate facilities that will shut down Dec. 31.

The Trump administration has compelled the Federal Reserve to shut down the Main Street Lending Program and other facilities that aid banks’ pandemic relief efforts, but President-elect Biden’s Treasury nominee could help turn the spigot back on.

The statement comes after multiple small and midsize institutions earlier this year warned the agencies that the secured overnight financing rate was ill-suited to them.

Defaults have been milder than expected thanks to government relief and stricter underwriting. But with the crisis dragging on and policymakers unable to agree on a stimulus plan, loans to highly indebted companies remain at risk.