President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was never slashed, according to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who dismissed a media story in which a biography stated she recommended trimming it back to avoid inflation, Reuters reports.
The White House made its own statement, claiming that the American Rescue Plan aided in the development of a robust US recovery and that rising food and energy costs were not caused by the stimulus package.
During two hearings in Congress scheduled for next week, Yellen is likely to address difficult questions regarding inflation. Lawmakers are likely to question her on her recent admission that she was “wrong” in the past about the course inflation would follow, citing unanticipated surprises such as Russia’s war with Ukraine and China’s COVID-19 lockdowns.
Bloomberg reported on Friday that Yellen tried to push officials to shrink the size of the spending plan by a third before Congress approved it, citing an advance copy of a biography on her written by journalist Owen Ullmann, who said that Yellen’s concern about inflation was why she pushed officials – unsuccessfully.
The book will be released on September 27.
The American Rescue Plan was enacted by Congress and signed into law a year ago, signifying a watershed moment in Biden’s first year as president.
In a statement released on Saturday, Yellen stated that the Biden administration’s main economic concern is currently rising inflation.
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