Federal Reserve Chairman Powell tells Senate panel he's not sure when mortgage rates will go down

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday during his testimony he's not sure when mortgage rates are going to go down.

Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., told Powell that there are many in her home state who cannot afford a home and asked if interest rates would remain above 6% for the year.

Powell said that the high mortgage rates don't really have a lot to do with the Federal Reserve's policies. 

"They may remain high," he said. "I think there's a chance that once we lower rates and rates return to a lower level, mortgage rates will come down. I don't know when that'll happen. And even when it does happen, we're still going to have a housing shortage in many places."

Powell was also asked whether the U.S. was in a recession or not. 

"Are we in a recession?" Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Powell. 

"We are not," he answered. 

Kennedy also asked Powell about "debanking" and about reports that the banks are involved in the practice. 

"I am too troubled by the quantity of these reports and really want to understand better why this is happening," Powell said. 

Kennedy said that Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C. has agreed to invite some of the banking CEOs accused of debanking people to testify about these allegations.