House Democrats applauded Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell when the central bank head reiterated the independence of his institution’s decision-making during a question-and-answer session on Thursday night.
Powell spoke at the House Democratic Caucus’s policy retreat in Leesburg, Va., in a session moderated by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Beatty told the Washington Examiner that Powell avoided controversy while taking questions from members about his views on the U.S. economic outlook, interest rates, President Trump, and the two open seats on the Fed’s Board of Governors that Trump has said he wants to fill with political allies Herman Cain and Stephen Moore. Both would have a vote on policies set by the central bank, including the federal funds interest rate that serves as a benchmark for loan rates and banks and other financial institutions.
Powell refrained from commenting directly on Cain, Moore, and Trump, Beatty said, but acknowledged the importance of diversity on the board and in the field of economics more broadly.
The Fed chairman also spoke about the importance of landmark anti-discrimination banking law the Community Reinvestment Act, the current state of the global economy, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, a benefit aimed at lower-income families.
“Overall it was well-received,” said Beatty, who noted that Powell stayed 45 minutes longer than he was scheduled to take as many questions as possible from members. “He was probably here for an hour, because he didn’t give you just a short answer.”
But Beatty said that Powell was tight-lipped on controversial or market-influencing topics.
“I think it was challenging because of the confidentiality of his role and his position,” she said.
Democrats have criticized Trump’s stated picks of Moore and Cain as attempting to meddle with part of the Fed’s mission to make crucial economic decisions free of political influence.
Earlier on Thursday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters that attempting to exert politics in the Fed’s decisions would be “dangerous.”
While nominations to the Fed move through the Senate, not the House of Representatives, Cain’s nomination, if not Moore’s as well, appears to be on the rocks. Four Republicans have said they would oppose confirming the former business executive and presidential candidate, who has been accused by four women of sexual harassment.
