"Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has studiously tried to avoid adding gasoline to the fire as the Trump administration has waged a long-running pressure campaign to bend the central bank to the president's will. By Sunday evening, Powell had evidently had enough. Word the Justice Department had launched a criminal probe into the Fed led Powell to respond. In an unusually combative video statement, Powell accused the administration of using federal prosecutors to interfere with the Fed's decision-making on interest rates."
"Here are 3 things to know about Trump's latest fight with the Federal Reserve. The president has long wanted lower interest rates Trump is not the first president to want lower interest rates but he is unusual in waging such a public pressure campaign. It includes not only regular criticism from President Trump that rates are too high, but threats to fire the Fed chairman, and an effort to remove another member of the Fed's governing board, Lisa Cook."
Jerome Powell resisted political pressure from the Trump administration but responded after word surfaced that the Justice Department launched a criminal probe into the Fed. Powell issued a combative video statement accusing the administration of using federal prosecutors to interfere with Fed decisions on interest rates. The president has repeatedly demanded lower interest rates and has publicly criticized and threatened Fed officials, including efforts to remove governor Lisa Cook. The Supreme Court has so far allowed Cook to remain in her post with a hearing scheduled. The Fed cut rates at each of its last three meetings to support the job market, while the president seeks much lower rates to stimulate the economy and lower government borrowing costs.
Read at www.npr.org
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