DOJ investigation of Fed Chair Powell sparks backlash, support for Fed independence

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared on Monday to be emboldening defenders of the U.S. central bank, who pushed back against President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert more control over the Fed.

The backlash reflected the overarching stakes in determining the balance of power within the federal government and the path of the U.S. economy at a time of uncertainty about inflation and a slowing job market. This has created a sense among some Republican lawmakers and leading economists that the Trump administration had overstepped the Fed’s independence by sending subpoenas.

The criminal investigation — a first for a sitting Fed chair — sparked an unusually robust response from Powell and a full-throated defense from three former Fed chairs, a group of top economic officials and even Republican senators tasked with voting on Trump’s eventual pick to replace Powell as Fed chair when his term expires in May.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell, who has proven to be a foil for Trump by insisting on setting the Fed’s benchmark interest rates based on the data instead of the president’s wishes.

“One thin...