The Federal Reserve is independent. We leave them to make their own policy decisions. We do not get involved in that.
-Karine Jean-Pierre, Former White House spokeswoman, May 18, 2022
The above was the constantly repeated mantra of the previous administration, as it was for every administration prior since 1913; the Federal Reserve is off-limits from any president reining it in.
Some might call the Federal Reserve a de facto fourth branch of government — but even that is inaccurate because the other three branches of government each have (theoretical) checks and balances on the other two to constrain their behaviors. The Fed does not.
In other words, the central bank of the United States functions as a fiefdom unto itself. This, the biased central bank assures us, is for our own good.Via Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System (emphasis added)
Congress has determined the Federal Reserve can best achieve its mission of supporting maximum employment and stable prices as an independent agency that makes decisions based on the best available evidence and analysis, without taking politics into consideration.
Experience around the world has also shown that countries with independent central banks that are able to make decisions free from political influence have better economic outcomes for their citizens.
In the United States, the Congress set the monetary policy goals for the Federal Reserve—maximum employment, price stability and moderate long-term interest rates, but gave the central bank independence to achieve those goals. The Federal Reserve is accountable to the Congress and the American people and Federal Reserve leaders regularly testify and report to the Congress on how the Federal Reserve is managing monetary policy.
There are probably legitimate arguments — or somewhere on the spectrum of legitimacy, at least — for a banking authority independent of the often irrational and mercurial whims of a voting public and/or their elected leaders.
Still, the fundamental problem remains: who watches the watchers?
Related: WATCH Deep State Capo John Brennan Sweat: ‘I’m on Kash Patel’s Enemy List’
And how can a people be said to be free when they have no power to exercise authority over the fiat currency printed and distributed in their name?
This, one could argue, was the genesis of what we call in modernity the “Deep State,” in that it was entirely unanswerable to the president and not subject to Congressional oversight in any meaningful way.
Contrary to popular belief, the current central banking scheme is not a constitutional feature of our republic. In fact, the nation managed its affairs without an independent banking authority exercising its will over the monetary supply for hundreds of years before the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
Via Investopedia (emphasis added):
The independence of America's central bank has always been a contentious issue. In the early days of the Republic, the founding fathers ultimately opted against having a central monetary authority. Although Alexander Hamilton was successful at establishing the Bank of the United States for several years, it ultimately failed. It was not until the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 that established the present-day central bank…
The monetary decisions of the Federal Reserve are meant to be separate from the government, and policy moves do not have to be ratified by the President, or anyone else in the Executive Branch…
Independence can also make it easier to execute policies that are politically unpopular but serve a greater public interest. Another argument is that the central bank should be filled with economists and other experts, rather than politicians or those under political sway.
Just over one month into his second term, Trump’s successfully dismantled USAID and its $38 billion annual budget, which it used to trannify children, propagandize populations domestic and abroad, and run coups worldwide.
He’s set his sights on the eminently corrupt Department of Education.
Even better, he’s announced plans to sic DOGE on the Pentagon, which has failed seven audits in a row yet continues to enjoy its trillion-dollar budget.
Related: Trump to Sic DOGE on Bloated Pentagon?
All great news.
But the Fed is the final boss. There is no more sacred cow, shielded from an ounce of scrutiny by bipartisan consensus, in Washington.
If we ever got inside the Fed books, it would make USAID look like a PTA fund.
Many great men have tried and failed to audit, much less fully take on, the Fed, including Ron Paul.
If Trump has the drive and the fortitude to get it done, he’d have my eternal admiration on account of that feat alone and millions of other Americans’ who have seen the currency issued in their names weaponized and diluted by unseen foces for over a century.
