1787 will always respect the independence of the Federal Reserve. We will never interfere with the Fed’s decisions, and we will never attempt to compromise its integrity by engaging in highly damaging political games.

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The Federal Reserve’s ability to set monetary policy without political interference is one of the most fundamental principles of free markets and the U.S. economy. Limiting the Fed’s autonomy to do things like, say, bring more liquidity into trading through the buying and selling of securities would destabilize investor confidence in our markets and threaten our economic growth.

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The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It is an agency of the federal government that reports to and is directly accountable to the U.S. Congress. Although this creates an interdependent relationship between the Federal Reserve and Congress, it is critical that the Fed remain independent of anything having to do with politics.

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We must watch this very closely during Donald Trump’s second term as president, because he believes the Executive Branch should have more control over what is supposed to be a nonpartisan agency. Repeatedly, he has said things like, “I feel the president should have at least [a] say in there. I think that in my case, I made a lot of money, I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve or the chairman.”

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Although Trump appointed Jay Powell (the current chair of the central bank) in 2017, he almost immediately threatened to remove him when the Fed raised interest rates over his objections. Then and now, Powell has made clear he will fight any attempt to remove him from his post, saying the president firing him is “not permitted under the law.”

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Several other Republicans are leading an even more aggressive attack against the Fed. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act, to dissolve the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks. The proposed legislation would also repeal the 1913 Federal Reserve Act, the legislation that established the Federal Reserve System in the first place.

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In their statement announcing the legislation, Senator Lee called the Fed an “economic manipulator that has directly contributed to the financial instability many Americans face today.” He went on to say that his legislation “aims to protect our economic future by dismantling a system that enables unchecked government spending, the monetization of federal debt that fuels it, and widespread economic disruption.” For his part, Rep. Massie said that “Americans are suffering under crippling inflation, and the Federal Reserve is to blame.”

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These assertions are absurd. Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve did an outstanding job of curbing inflation without plunging our economy into recession after the Covid crisis – an achievement few people thought possible.