White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Christopher Phelan signaled Friday that the administration is done rolling out new anti-inflation measures and will defer to the Federal Reserve, praising Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh as the right person to tackle price pressures that have now persisted for more than five years.
Appearing on Bloomberg’s Open Interest, Phelan was asked directly whether the White House has any additional policies lined up to address inflation. Co-host Michael McKee noted that the administration had already acted on gasoline prices, had limited room left in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and had recently allowed more beef imports to try to ease food costs. He asked if anything else was in the pipeline.
Phelan’s answer deferred to the central bank. He pointed to recent comments from Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh and said, “I would leave it with the man I consider to be a very capable choice for Fed Chairman.”
“One thing that Chairman Warsh very clearly said is — and I applaud him for saying this — he said inflation’s on us, inflation is a Fed thing,” Phelan said. “It’s been above their target for 65 straight months. And he’s been Chairman for 100 days. He was very explicit about that.”
The comments amount to an explicit acknowledgment that the White House sees the inflation fight as now primarily a Federal Reserve responsibility, even as prices have exceeded the Fed’s 2% target for well over five years.
Phelan also expressed optimism about global energy markets, saying world markets expect crude oil prices to fall.
65 Months and Counting
That 65-month stretch above target is notable. If accurate, it would mean inflation has run above the Fed’s 2% goal since roughly mid-2021, a period spanning multiple administrations and Fed chairs.
The Fed’s target is 2% annually, and Warsh has now been chairman for about 100 days. His public framing, as recounted by Phelan, has been to put the burden on the central bank.
“He’s been Chairman for 100 days. He was very explicit about that,” Phelan said, repeating Warsh’s point that inflation is a monetary policy issue.
The remarks come at a time when the White House has been trying a range of supply-side measures to ease price pressures, including tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and opening the door to more beef imports to boost supply and lower prices at the grocery store.
But with those tools either exhausted or limited, the message now appears to be: the Fed’s move.
Warsh’s First 100 Days
Warsh was appointed Fed chairman just over three months ago, and his tenure has already been marked by tough talk on inflation.
Phelan’s praise for Warsh — “a very capable choice for Fed Chairman” — suggests the White House is comfortable with Warsh’s approach, even though that approach has yet to show a clear result in the inflation data.
McKee’s questioning also highlighted the political economy realities facing the administration. Gasoline prices have been one of the most politically sensitive components of the inflation basket, and the use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a finite tool.
The beef import decision was a more recent option, aimed at increasing supply and bringing down meat prices, but it is not a comprehensive solution to broad inflationary pressures.
By explicitly punting to the Fed, the administration may be trying to shift blame — or credit — for the next phase of the inflation fight. Whether that message lands with voters who are still dealing with elevated prices remains an open question.
For now, the official White House line is clear: on inflation, the ball is in the Fed’s court.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/04/white-house-on-if-there-are-more-anti-inflation-policies-coming-leave-it-to-fed/