The White House chief of staff recalled how Biden came into office with what he described as “a once-in-a-generation pandemic and an unprecedented shutdown in the economy” for which the outgoing administration had left “no plan or path forward.”

In a speech Thursday following the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate cut, President Joe Biden talked up the importance of the U.S. central bank’s independence while criticizing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s stated desire to wield more influence over the Fed.