{"id":8702,"date":"2015-02-26T10:47:21","date_gmt":"2015-02-26T16:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=8702"},"modified":"2015-02-26T10:47:21","modified_gmt":"2015-02-26T16:47:21","slug":"republican-lawmakers-question-feds-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/republican-lawmakers-question-feds-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican Lawmakers Question Fed\u2019s Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lucy Ren<\/p>\n

On the second day of the semiannual monetary policy report <\/a>to Congress, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen faced a wave of criticism that Republican lawmakers heaped on her close relationship with the White House.<\/p>\n

Representative William Huizenga (R-MI) asserted that Yellen was \u201cdealing with the executive branch instead of the legislative branch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rep.<\/a>
Rep. Bill Huizenga (Connormah, Creative Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cShouldn\u2019t we be equally concerned about threats posed by executive interference?\u201d Huizenga asked. He specifically criticized Yellen for meeting more frequently with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew rather than with Congress. He also urged the Fed to testify before Congress four times a year instead of two.<\/p>\n

Yellen denied that she discussed monetary policy or actions that the Fed is going to take with the secretary or the executive branch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is obviously critically important that the Federal Reserve be accountable to Congress,\u201d Yellen said. \u201cI, personally, and the Federal Reserve as an institution, seek to provide all of the input that Congress needs for appropriate oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI) criticized Yellen for \u201ctaking a Democratic line\u201d as she gave a speech on income inequality during last fall\u2019s Congressional campaigns, when Democrats were making the topic a major issue.<\/p>\n

\n

Related Stories<\/h1>\n

Yellen: Labor Market not Ready for Interest Rate Hike<\/a>
\nSenator Challenges Yellen on Interest Rate<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhy would you not expect the Fed to have a close relationship with the Treasury?\u201d commented Michael Carey, chief economist for Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, in a telephone interview after the hearing. \u201cI think Congress should just get out of the way and let the Fed do their jobs properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yellen strongly criticized the \u201cAudit the Fed\u201d bill in both days of hearings, stressing that it would deplete the independence of the central bank. The audit legislation, which was re-introduced by Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, demands greater transparency and accountability from the central bank.<\/p>\n

\"Rep.<\/a>
Rep. Scott Garrett (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAudit the Fed is a bill that would politicize monetary policy, would bring short-term political pressures to bear on the Fed,\u201d she said on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee. \u201cAcademic studies establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that independent central banks perform better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

“In the early ’70s, when inflation built and became an endemic problem, history suggests there was political pressure on the Fed that interfered with its decision making,\u201d Yellen said on Tuesday. She questioned whether Volcker would have had \u201cthe courage to take the steps necessary to bring down inflation\u201d had Audit the Fed had been around.<\/p>\n

Representative Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) argued that Audit the Fed \u201cwouldn\u2019t make the Fed more political than it already is,\u201d and urged the Fed to meet with people \u201con the other side.\u201d He also accused the Fed for \u201cacting on a partisan basis,\u201d criticizing its lobbying of the White House.<\/p>\n

In response to Rep. Garrett, Yellen said the Fed meets with \u201ca wide range of groups,\u201d and that her meeting schedule was \u201call in the public domain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"lucy\"<\/a>
Yellen scheduled more than 950 meetings from February through December. (Wall Street Journal, Lucy Ren\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From February to December, Yellen had 51 meetings with White House officials, and only 23 with lawmakers, according to the chairwoman\u2019s monthly calendars <\/a>obtained by the Wall Street Journal under the federal Freedom of Information Act.<\/p>\n

Photo at Top: Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen spoke in response to a question during her testimony before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington on Wednesday. (Bloomberg Business, YouTube)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Representative William Huizenga (R-MI) asserted that Yellen was \u201cdealing with the executive branch instead of the legislative branch.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":8710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-winter-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nRepublican Lawmakers Question Fed\u2019s Independence - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/republican-lawmakers-question-feds-independence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Republican Lawmakers Question Fed\u2019s Independence - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lucy Ren On the second day of the semiannual monetary policy report to Congress, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen faced a wave of criticism that Republican lawmakers heaped on her close relationship with the White House. 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