© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A general view of the White House in Washington, U.S. June 12, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of the U.S. government’s top credit rating is a “bizarre and baseless” decision that ignores a resilient U.S. economy and a moment of bipartisan agreement on raising the federal debt ceiling, a senior Biden administration official said on Tuesday.
The official told reporters on a conference call objecting to the downgrade that Fitch’s decision was based on outdated data and relied on a reduced governance score that occurred during the Trump administration.
But Fitch had opted to stop considering factors that had previously kept the U.S. rating at the top AAA level, the official added.