WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the Federal Open Market Committee announced its decision to hold its benchmark rate flat:

“The Fed is once again misreading the moment. It’s failure to cut interest rates is harming working families who have to bear the cost of that inaction. Biden’s 9 percent annual inflation in 2022 is a thing of the past, and inflation under President Trump’s policies reached its lowest level in four years. With economic growth surging at 3.0 percent in the second quarter, today’s GDP report leaves no doubt: the President’s agenda is delivering for working families and small businesses across the country. Chronically high interest rates risk dampening the future growth and opportunity that America is poised to experience under the President’s tax and trade agenda, including The One, Big, Beautiful Bill. High interest rates hurt middle-class families locked out of the American Dream of home ownership and small businesses fighting to compete with major corporations. It’s past time for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates.”