[Pelham]

“He’s right. Now if the Federal Reserve stopped manipulating interest rates, the interest payments on Obama’s debt would be a lot lower.”

The one rate that the Fed can control is the Fed Funds Rate. It is currently 2.5%, at the bottom of the Fed’s target range.

During the entire Reagan administration the Fed Funds Rate was never below 5%.

But the Treasury borrows longer term anyway and those rates are determined by the traders in the bond market. The Fed couldn’t set long term rates if they tried, they don’t have the ability.

[Moonman62]

Rising Rates Impact Borrowing Costs for the U.S. Government, Too

https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/third-quarter-2018/rising-rates-borrowing-government