Oh, the danger. At least what Peter Nicholas and Paul Kiernan worried about in their Friday Wall Street Journal piece. President Donald Trump might exert too much pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
[A] sit-down could pose serious risks to the perceived independence of the Fed, according to lawmakers, former Fed officials, and longtime central bank watchers.
Maybe even fire Powell, or threaten him with that.
Most of the ones making such claims are Progressive-Democrats manufacturing a beef for the sake of having something Trumpian about which to whine.
To the extent the threats exist, those exclaiming over them are insulting Powell, saying he’s such a limp-kneed coward that he’d take such threats seriously—as though they think Powell would consider his having the job to be more important than his own integrity or the duties levied on him and the requirements levied on the Fed he leads.
…it [the meeting] could give rise to outside speculation that Mr Trump is seeking to sway Fed policy given his public objections to higher interest rates, these people added.
Of course Trump would, or I hope he would. That’s part of his duty as this nation’s Chief Executive. Along with every Congressman, the President has a duty to speak his piece on economic policy—including to members of the Fed’s governance—and to push for his position. Including with members of the Fed’s governance.
The Fed is a part of our government; it is not above it; it cannot require audiences to be begged for before anyone can come before it. No one in the Fed is too holy or beyond approach. By anyone.
Powell understands that; he’s not the Milquetoast he’s made out to be by such…concerns. Alternatively, if he is, he should be fired. That personal weakness would amply satisfy the “for cause” requirement for a President to fire a Fed Chairman.
