The CEOs of the nation’s biggest banks were in for a second day of tough questioning from lawmakers Thursday, as Americans face inflation not seen since the early 1980s and a midterm election is only weeks away.

The CEOs of the nation’s biggest banks have appeared in front of Congress and given a dim view of the U.S. economy, reflecting the financial and economic distress many Americans are facing.

Trump’s Labor Department is using a 55-year-old presidential order spurred by the Civil Rights Movement to scrutinize companies like Microsoft and Wells Fargo over their public commitments to diversity. The agency has oversight over the hiring practices of thousands of federal contractors that employ roughly a quarter of all American workers. But he said it’s more likely the Trump administration is using the move as a political tactic ahead of the presidential election. “It’s a chicken-and-egg problem.”The latest actions affecting contractors align with a broader Trump administration trend on matters of race. At least one university, the University of Iowa, suspended its diversity efforts in response the order.

FILE - In this March 10, 2020 file photo, Wells Fargo CEO and President Charles Scharf is seated before he testifies during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee, on Capitol Hill, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)NEW YORK – Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf apologized Wednesday for comments he made suggesting it is difficult to find qualified Black executives in the financial industry. Scharf said in a memo to employees “there is a very limited pool of Black talent to recruit from” in corporate America. “Perhaps it is the CEO of Wells Fargo who lacks the talent to recruit Black workers,” said Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, on Twitter. The last prominent African American to serve as CEO at a large financial services company was Kenneth Chenault, the former CEO of American Express.