WASHINGTON: Outgoing US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Sunday delivered a staunch defense of the need for the central bank to maintain independence and credibility, as it comes under assault from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike many other institutions, the Fed has been undergoing a stress test,\u201d he said as he accepted an award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well,\u201d Powell said, in a barely veiled reference to the Trump administration\u2019s attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what\u2019s best for all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his second term in power, Trump has frequently criticized and insulted Powell, alleging he was too slow to lower interest rates.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s Justice Department went so far as to pursue criminal charges against the Fed chair over a building renovation project. The probe was eventually dropped to smooth the path toward Powell\u2019s successor being confirmed by the Senate.<\/p>\n
Separately, Trump also sought to remove Cook over mortgage fraud allegations. The Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of the move.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur credibility has been built and sustained over many decades, and we have a duty to safeguard that priceless asset for our fellow citizens and for generations to come,\u201d said Powell.<\/p>\n
The former Fed chair received the John F. Kennedy Profile In Courage Award \u201cfor protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve,\u201d the foundation said.<\/p>\n
Powell stepped down as chair at the end of his term earlier this month, and has been succeeded by Trump nominee Kevin Warsh.<\/p>\n
In an unusual move for outgoing Fed chiefs, Powell chose to remain on the board for the remainder of his term as a governor, which ends in 2028. He did so citing threats to the Fed\u2019s independence, and promised to keep a \u201clow profile.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has welcomed Warsh\u2019s taking over the Fed \u2014 after a protracted and divisive Senate confirmation process \u2014 and hosted a lavish ceremony at the White House for his swearing-in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe renewal and change is good, and I think we are going to see a new sheriff in town,\u201d said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday.<\/p>\n
Also given the award on Sunday were \u201cThe People of the Twin Cities of Minnesota,\u201d in recognition of \u201crisking their lives to protect their neighbors and immigrant community members from an unprecedented federal law enforcement operation,\u201d the foundation said.<\/p>\n
Trump ordered a massive surge of immigration enforcement operations in the \u201ctwin cities\u201d of St. Paul and Minneapolis earlier this year, resulting in widespread demonstrations and the killings of at least two US citizen protesters and one migrant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON: Outgoing US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Sunday delivered a staunch defense of the need for the central bank to maintain independence and credibility, as it comes under assault from President Donald Trump. \u201cLike many other institutions, the Fed has been undergoing a stress test,\u201d he said as he accepted an award from …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98406,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98391\/revisions\/98406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}