Trump economy adviser: Fed should be '100 percent' independent of political influence

A top economic adviser to President Trump on Sunday said the Federal Reserve should be 100 percent independent of political influence when it comes to monetary policy — including from Trump.

Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, made the remarks during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” where he was asked about a survey that found just 41 percent of Republicans think the Fed should be independent of Trump.

“Oh, if I were in that survey then I would say 100 percent that monetary policy, Federal Reserve monetary policy, needs to be fully independent of political influence,” Hassett told host Margaret Brennan.

“Including from President Trump,” Hassett said in response to a direct question from Brennan.

“The fact is that we’ve looked at countries that have allowed the leaders to take over the central banks, and what tends to happen is that it’s a recipe for inflation and misery for consumers,” he said.

“And so central bank independence is something that, as you saw, there was a hearing this week about that, that Democrats and Republicans and the White House all agreed about. Now the question is, has the current central bank been as independent as we would like, as transparent we would as we would like? And I think that there’s some dispute about that,” Hassett said.

Hassett said he agreed with an op-ed written this week by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that said the Federal Reserve’s independence was under threat due to “mission creep,” and that it needed an overhaul.

Hassett, who is seen as a potential future chair of the Federal Reserve, said he had no plan to overhaul the Fed and was focused on his day job.

Trump has been putting pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. He has also launched an effort to remove Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook from her position.

Powell’s term as the leader of the Fed is up in the spring. It’s possible Trump could then nominate Hassett as the chair.

Hassett said there were a lot of good candidates for the position.