Subpoenas mark escalation in Trump-Powell conflict over interest rates. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
US President Donald Trump's administration has ramped up its pressure campaign on the Federal Reserve, threatening to indict Chair Jerome Powell over comments to Congress about a building renovation project. Powell responded by calling it a "pretext" to gain more influence over interest rates, which Trump wants cut dramatically.
The latest development in a long-running effort by Trump for greater control over the Fed had immediate fallout, with Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee that vets Presidential nominees for the Fed, saying the threatened indictment puts the Department of Justice's credibility in question.
At stake is the independence of the Fed - the world's most important central bank - to set US monetary policy without undue influence by elected officials.
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