President Obama and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen talked about the ongoing implementation of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law and the outlook for economic growth in a one-on-one meeting Monday, the White House said.
The discussion in the Oval Office was the first time the two had met by themselves since Yellen was installed as chairwoman of the central bank in February, the White House said, but the second time Obama has spoken with her in just over a month. Yellen joined the heads of the other major financial regulatory agencies in a conversation with Obama in early October.
The White House released no other details about the meeting. At a press briefing earlier in the afternoon, White House press secretary Josh Earnest had said that the conversation between the two would “focus on the long-term outlook for the American economy.”
The Fed conducts monetary policy independently from the administration. It also was given broad new powers to oversee the financial system by the Dodd-Frank law, and was tasked with writing many of the law’s regulations that applied to banks.
The Fed and other agencies have written many of the biggest Dodd-Frank rules, including the Volcker Rule that is meant to keep banks from using depositors’ funds to trade for their own profit as well as regulations requiring higher capital and liquidity standards.
But other rules have not been written, and the Fed is still in the early stages of ensuring that the rules it has finalized are enforced.
Earnest acknowledged that the Fed operates independently of the administration, but added that “there is an opportunity for the president and the chair of the Fed to have conversations.” He also cited Obama’s upcoming trips to Asia and the meeting of G-20 nations in Australia, at which he will discuss economic growth and trade with other world leaders.
The White House did not indicate whether Yellen and Obama discussed the two remaining vacancies on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board of Governors. With the GOP expected to make gains in the Senate and gain greater control of the nominations process, Obama’s window of opportunity for influencing policy through appointments of Fed governors is closing.
