U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Warren presses Treasury and the White House National Economic Council to analyze and address K-shaped economy risks

Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett urging them to monitor and address what she described as “K-shaped” economic trends in which consumer spending is increasingly concentrated among high-income households while low- and middle-income families pull back as costs rise. The letter argues that Administration policies have deepened the divide, citing sweeping tariffs that “hit low- and moderate-income households particularly hard” and Congressional Budget Office estimates that Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” would reduce average household incomes by more than USD 1,200 for the bottom 10 percent while increasing them by over USD 13,000 for the top 10 percent. Warren requested any macroeconomic analysis conducted on the impacts of concentrated consumer spending, asked that such analysis be conducted if it has not been, and questioned whether the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s new “household resilience working group” is monitoring bifurcation in consumer spending and analyzing the impacts of Administration policies on income inequality.