The Federal Reserve just announced that it raised interest rates by 75 basis points or 0.75 percentage point. This marks the greatest rate increase in 28 years. Additionally, the Fed indicated a much stronger path of rate increases ahead to arrest inflation moving at its fastest pace going back to December 1981, according to one commonly cited measure. Fed officials now expect their preferred measure of inflation to end the year at 5.2 percent. That would represent a slowdown from the current rate of inflation — prices were up 6.3 percent in April from a year earlier — but it’s significantly faster than policymakers expected in March, when their projections showed prices ending the year up 4.3 percent.
On the Senate side of the Capitol, a bipartisan framework to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals and boost funding for mental health treatment has strong momentum after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) endorsed it Tuesday. McConnell says he is planning to vote for legislation based on the framework, which would make him the 11th Republican in the Senate to back it. That would give the legislation at least 61 votes — one more than necessary to break a filibuster — barring an unexpected meltdown. The legislation would provide billions of dollars in mental health grants to states, restrict convicted domestic abusers and individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders from buying guns and strengthen background checks for gun buyers between the ages of 18 and 21.
For today, the Senate convened at 10 A.M. and continues work on H.R.3967, Honoring our PACT Act, as amended, and is expected to vote to involve cloture. The Senate is also expected to vote on the Motion to proceed to S.Con.Res.41, a concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2023 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2024 through 2032. The Senate will also consider the nomination of Alan M. Leventhal, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark.
The House convened at 12:00 P.M. and is working on H.R. 2543 – Financial Services Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Economic Justice Act. The legislation would support efforts of financial institutions like community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions that are working to serve historically underserved communities and promote greater diversity in corporate and bank governance.
