{"id":8392,"date":"2026-01-13T02:35:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T02:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8392"},"modified":"2026-01-13T02:35:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T02:35:48","slug":"republican-lawmakers-break-from-us-president-on-fed-chair-indictment-banks-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8392","title":{"rendered":"Republican lawmakers break from US president on Fed chair indictment | Banks News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Former Federal Reserve chairs called the indictment an \u2018unprecedented attempt\u2019 to undermine the independence of the US central bank in a joint letter.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 12 Jan 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">12 Jan 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>United States Senator Lisa Murkowski threw her support behind fellow Republican Thom Tillis\u2019s plan to block President Donald Trump\u2019s Fed nominees after the Justice Department over the weekend threatened to indict Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer,\u201d Murkowski wrote on X on Monday.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Murkowski is one of a small handful of Trump\u2019s fellow Republicans who have shown themselves willing to vote against his wishes at times in the US Senate, where his party holds a 53-47 majority.<\/p>\n<p>Since returning to office last year, Trump has been increasingly publicly pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates, breaking with longstanding practice meant to insulate the central bank from political pressure and allowing it to focus on economic data.<\/p>\n<p>Alaska lawmaker Murkowski said she had spoken earlier on Monday with Powell, who on Sunday said the US central bank had received subpoenas last week that he called \u201cpretexts\u201d aimed at the Fed\u2019s basing interest rates on policy and not on Trump\u2019s preferences.<\/p>\n<p>Murkowski called the Justice Department threat \u201cnothing more than an attempt at coercion\u201d, adding that Congress should investigate the department if it believes probing the Fed was warranted over renovation cost overruns, which she called \u201cnot unusual\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"hassett-weighs-in\">Hassett weighs in<\/h2>\n<p>Powell\u2019s term is up in May, and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has largely been seen as a potential pick to succeed him.<\/p>\n<p>Hassett questioned Powell\u2019s congressional testimony about the Fed\u2019s new building construction, which is at the centre of the Justice Department\u2019s probe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, we\u2019ve got a building that\u2019s got like, dramatic cost overruns and plans for the buildings that look inconsistent with the testimony, but again, I\u2019m not a Justice Department person. I hope everything turns out OK for Jay,\u201d Hassett told the CNBC news programme Squawk Box.<\/p>\n<p>Later, Hassett said he would support the investigation if he were in charge of the Fed, telling reporters that it \u201cseems like the Justice Department has decided that they want to see what\u2019s going on over there with this building that\u2019s massively more expensive than any building in the history of Washington\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, who has long pushed for more aggressive interest rate cuts, said in a post on his Truth Social platform in December, \u201cThe United States should be rewarded for SUCCESS, not brought down by it. Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"former-officials-condemn-probe\">Former officials condemn probe<\/h2>\n<p>The past three heads of the US Federal Reserve on Monday joined with other former federal government economic policy leaders in condemning the Trump administration\u2019s criminal probe of the Fed chair, likening it to the interference with central bank independence more often seen in emerging market countries with \u201cweak institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence,\u201d a statement signed by former Fed chairs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly. It has no place in the United States whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The three were joined by 10 other former top economic policymakers appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Federal Reserve chairs called the indictment an \u2018unprecedented attempt\u2019 to undermine the independence of the US central bank in a joint letter. Published On 12 Jan 202612 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share United States Senator Lisa Murkowski threw her support behind fellow Republican Thom Tillis\u2019s plan to block [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}