【每日晨读金融时报】Bessent calls for probe into ‘entire’ Fed

Bes­sent calls for probe into ‘entire’ FedUS Treas­ury sec­ret­ary Scott Bes­sent has called for an inquiry into the “entire Fed­eral Reserve insti­tu­tion”, in the latest sign of how Don­ald Trump’s admin­is­tra­tion is crank­ing up pres­sure on the cent­ral bank.Bes­sent’s com­ments come after the US pres­id­ent and his lieu­ten­ants have sharply cri­ti­cised the Fed and its chair Jay Pow­ell for refrain­ing from cut­ting bor­row­ing costs this year. Trump asked a group of Repub­lican law­makers last week whether he should sack Pow­ell but later cla­ri­fied that he had no plans to do so unless he needs to “leave for fraud”.Trump’s gov­ern­ment recently opened a new front in its cam­paign against the Fed, with the pres­id­ent’s budget dir­ector Rus­sell Vought repeatedly alleging a $2.5bn renov­a­tion of the bank’s headquar­ters had been grossly mis­man­aged.Bes­sent amped up cri­ti­cism of the Fed yes­ter­day, telling CNBC: “What we need to do is exam­ine the entire Fed­eral Reserve insti­tu­tion and whether they have been suc­cess­ful.” If the Fed­eral Avi­ation Admin­is­tra­tion had made as many mis­takes, he added, “we would go back and look at why”.The Fed inspector-gen­eral is review­ing the renov­a­tion of its headquar­ters, which involves an over­haul of two build­ings that over­look the National Mall and is $700mn over budget. Pow­ell has also writ­ten to senior sen­at­ors to explain how the cent­ral bank is rein­ing in costs.The Fed yes­ter­day pub­lished a video tour of the two build­ings.1. crank up pressure on sth意思：加大对某事的压力、施压crank up本意是“把机器的强度调大”，引申为“增强、加剧”例句：The union cranked up pressure on the government to raise wages.工会加大了对政府提高工资的压力。2. lieutenant意思：副职，助手；在军队中是“中尉”在新闻语境中，多指“得力助手”、“副官”、“二号人物”例句：He was one of the president’s most trusted lieutenants.他是总统最信任的副手之一。3. refrain from意思：克制住，避免（去做某事）例句：Please refrain from smoking in this area.请不要在此区域吸烟。4. allege意思：指称；宣称（未被证实）常用于法律或新闻中，表示“有人声称……”，但尚未被证实。例句：The company is alleged to have falsified its records.据称这家公司伪造了记录。5. amp up意思：增强，加强（强度、活动、能量等）来自“amplify”，略口语化例句：The campaign is amping up its social media efforts.这场竞选正在加强社交媒体方面的投入。6. rein in意思：控制，约束（情绪、开支、势力等）来自马术“拉紧缰绳”例句：The central bank is trying to rein in inflation.央行正试图控制通胀。