Fed's independent structure has proved its worth, Waller says

Howard Schneider

Fri, May 9, 2025, 8:31 AM 2 min read

By Howard Schneider

PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) -The operation of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, with members who cannot beryllium fired implicit argumentation disputes and service for periods staggered crossed statesmanlike terms, has "stood the trial of time" and should beryllium preserved, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said connected Friday.

Waller, citing earlier probe of his ain and others, said the U.S. cardinal bank's strategy provides electoral accountability by letting each U.S. president who serves a four-year word name immoderate members of the seven-person Board of Governors, portion the lengthy presumption of up to 14 years let objective, non-partisan policymaking.

That setup is much apt to nutrient amended argumentation outcomes, with little ostentation and little economical volatility.

Economic stableness is "enhanced by having a radical of individuals acceptable argumentation who could not beryllium removed from office," said Waller, a erstwhile probe manager astatine the St. Louis Fed who was appointed arsenic a Fed politician during President Donald Trump's archetypal word successful the White House.

"This operation is the 1 that we person successful spot contiguous astatine the Federal Reserve," Waller told a monetary argumentation league astatine Stanford University's Hoover Institution. "I would reason that it has stood the trial of time, and I anticipation that it continues to beryllium successful spot for years to come."

His comments travel what seemed to beryllium threats by Trump earlier this twelvemonth to effort to occurrence Fed Chair Jerome Powell, though the president has since backed down. The Fed is intimately monitoring a lawsuit earlier the U.S. Supreme Court to spot if Trump is allowed to occurrence officials astatine different autarkic agencies.

Waller did not remark connected monetary argumentation oregon the economical outlook successful his prepared remarks.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Paul Simao)