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Lawmakers are ‘demeaning their role’ by trying to influence the Fed

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US Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) speaks to members of the media outside the office of US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 3, 2023. 

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R–N.C.) sharply criticized other politicians on Tuesday for making public comments about what the Federal Reserve should do with its interest rate policy.

McHenry,the outgoing chair of the House Financial Services Committee, said it was an ‘”outrage” that some politicians are publicly lobbying the central bank about rate cuts.

“The outrage to me is … for instance, if you’re on the right, you say the Fed should be independent, except I think right now they should do this. And on the left, the same,” said McHenry, who is retiring from Congress at the end of this term.

“Senators that are trying to direct the Fed on rate policy are really demeaning their role. …. They’re demeaning their role as a United States Senator,” he added.

McHenry’s comments came one day before the U.S. central bank is widely expected to start cutting interest rates for the first time since 2020. Coming in the middle of a presidential election cycle, the change in Fed policy has stirred speculation as to whether the central bank would be influenced by political considerations. Chair Jerome Powell, first appointed by Trump and reappointed by President Joe Biden, has repeatedly denied that’s a factor.

On Monday, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island called for the Fed to cut its benchmark lending rate by 0.75 percentage points, which is higher than the most aggressive market expectations. Warren and Whitehouse are both running for re-election in November while Hickenlooper’s term ends in 2026.

Republicans who have weighed in include former President Donald Trump, who said in an August press conference that he believes he should get a say on monetary policy if he wins in November. Sen. Mike Lee (R–Utah) also introduced a bill earlier this year that would abolish the Fed.

When asked about Trump’s remarks, McHenry said that “all presidents think they should give an input” but that the central bankers should ignore statements from politicians.

“The Fed should act in the way that the data indicates that they should act. Period,” McHenry said.

The remarks came at a conference hosted by Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy.

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Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: HIMS, TEM, FANG

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Anthropic closes in on $3.5 billion funding round

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Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Anthropic is in talks to raise a $3.5 billion funding round, significantly more than the amount previously expected, CNBC has confirmed.

The round would roughly triple the artificial intelligence startup’s valuation to $61.5 billion, according to two sources familiar with the deal, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. Lightspeed Ventures is leading the funding, with participation from General Catalyst and others, the sources said.

The financing, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, signals continued investor demand for top-tier AI companies, even in the face of potential disruption from China’s DeepSeek. Anthropic is backed by Amazon and Google, and had initially set out to raise $2 billion, according to a source.

Anthropic declined to comment.

The company’s last private market valuation was $18 billion. Amazon has poured $8 billion into the startup.

Anthropic was founded by early OpenAI employees and is the creator of the popular chatbot Claude. Earlier Monday, Anthropic released what it says is it’s “most intelligent AI model yet. Its so-called hybrid model combines an ability to reason — or stopping to think about complex answers — with a traditional model that spits out answers in real time.

WATCH: Anthropic unveils newest AI model

Amazon-backed Anthropic unveils newest AI-model

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Jamie Dimon calls U.S. government ‘inefficient,’ touts Elon Musk’s DOGE effort

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Watch CNBC's full interview with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Monday said the U.S. government is inefficient and in need of work as the Trump administration terminates thousands of federal employees and works to dismantle agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Dimon was asked by CNBC’s Leslie Picker whether he supported efforts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He declined to give what he called a “binary” response, but made comments that supported the overall effort.

“The government is inefficient, not very competent, and needs a lot of work,” Dimon told Picker. “It’s not just waste and fraud, its outcomes.”

The Trump administration’s effort to rein in spending and scrutinize federal agencies “needs to be done,” Dimon added.

“Why are we spending the money on these things? Are we getting what we deserve? What should we change?” Dimon said. “It’s not just about the deficit, its about building the right policies and procedures and the government we deserve.”

Dimon said if DOGE overreaches with its cost-cutting efforts or engages in activity that’s not legal, “the courts will stop it.”

“I’m hoping it’s quite successful,” he said.

In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon also addressed his company’s push to have most workers in office five days a week, as well as his views on the Ukraine conflict, tariffs and the U.S. consumer.

Watch CNBC's full interview with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon

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