GOP lawmaker predicts economic recession as Biden says he’s not concerned
'Whether there's a recession, when it's going to hit us, I'm sure it's coming. I just can't tell you when,' Nehls said
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FIRST ON FOX: A Texas Republican lawmaker is predicting the U.S. is heading into a recession as President Biden says he’s not concerned about a major economic slowdown.
Texas Rep. Troy Nehls, a Republican, warned that America is likely headed into an economic recession as the latest GDP numbers showed a 1.4% contraction.
Biden said Thursday after the new numbers dropped that he was "not concerned" about a recession after the economy shrunk in the first quarter of 2022.
BIDEN ‘NOT CONCERNED’ ABOUT RECESSION AFTER US ECONOMY SHRINKS IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2022
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, speaks about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to reject two of Leader McCarthy’s selected members from serving on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots on July 21, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Fox News Digital spoke with Nehls Friday by phone, and the congressman said he believes the U.S. is headed toward a recession.
"I believe it is," Nehls said. "Now exactly when that's going to occur, I’ve got to leave that for the smart guy.
"All I do know is that the American people are sick and tired of paying … four, five, six bucks for fuel. I do know that," the congressman continued. "I think the people obviously are very concerned about inflation. Whether there's a recession, when it's going to hit us, I'm sure it's coming. I just can't tell you when."
Nehls added that he believes the American people are "concerned about our economy" as well as "all the conversations they're having about potential food shortages," which the congressman said the country is already seeing.
President Biden holds his face mask and waves as he exits Air Force One at Capital Region International Airport Oct. 5, 2021, in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci / AP Newsroom)
A White House spokesperson pointed Fox News Digital to reports saying economists argue the economic data is affected by "artificial skews."
"Even economists who fault Biden's economic stewardship do not see today's headline GDP numbers as at all reflective of underlying macroeconomic conditions," Washington Post economics reporter Jeff Stein tweeted Thursday. "Every conservative economist I've spoken today has said the trade/inventory today amount to artificial skews on the data."
However, the White House’s pushback on a potential recession comes as Deutsche Bank warned Thursday that the U.S. economy is on the brink of a "major recession."
US ECONOMY ON BRINK OF ‘MAJOR RECESSION,’ DEUTSCHE BANK WARNS
"We will get a major recession, but our strongly held view is that the sooner and the more aggressively the Fed acts, the less longer-term damage to the economy there will be," the authors wrote in an analyst note published this week.
Deutsche Bank had previously projected a "mild" recession, but darkened its forecast because the economists believe that inflation is so high the Fed will have no choice but to dramatically raise the benchmark federal funds rate in order to crush consumer demand.
Sen. John Cornyn said he and his colleagues could support an infrastructure bill of around $800 billion, underscoring GOP interest in a bipartisan fix for the nation’s aging roads and patchy broadband service. (AP Photo/Eric Gay / AP Newsroom)
The prospects of a recession come as inflation hits a 40-year high and Americans are paying more for everything across the board, including food, gas and rent.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican and former Senate GOP whip, recently sounded the alarm on the inflation Americans are facing.
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"I think we know what the problems are right now," Cornyn said. "We know that inflation is undermining the standard of living of Americans across the country, including the people on fixed incomes and at the lower-end of the income scale."
A recession would also be a major hit to the Democrats as they enter into a contentious midterm year when Republicans are already pounding the drum on the economy.
Fox News Digital’s Megan Henney contributed reporting.