US Senator Lisa Murkowski on Monday threw her support behind fellow Republican Thom Tillis's plan to block President Donald Trump's Federal Reserve nominees after the Justice Department over the weekend threatened to indict the central bank's chairman Jerome Powell.
"The stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer," Murkowski wrote on X.
Murkowski is one of a small handful of Trump's fellow Republicans who have shown themselves willing to vote against his wishes at times in the Senate, where his party holds a 53-47 majority.
The Alaska lawmaker said she had spoken earlier on Monday with Powell, who on Sunday said the US central bank had received subpoenas last week that he called "retaliation" for the Fed's basing interest rates on policy rather than Trump's preferences.
Murkowski called the DOJ threat "nothing more than an attempt at coercion", adding that Congress should investigate the department if it believes probing the Fed was warranted over renovation cost overruns, which she called "not unusual".
America's top central banker Powell targeted by federal probe
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BUSINESS DAILY © FRANCE 24
07:02
Since returning to office last year, Trump has been increasingly publicly pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates, breaking with long-standing practice meant to insulate the central bank from political pressure and allowing it to focus on economic data.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him. Powell’s caution has infuriated Trump, who has demanded the Fed cut borrowing costs to spur the economy and reduce the interest rates the federal government pays on its debt. That anger has not subsided even after the Fed cut interest rates in three of the final four months of 2025.
Watch moreUS Federal Reserve cuts interest rates for third straight time
Powell said in his statement that "the threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president".
Murkowski's statement came as every living former US central bank chief issued a joint criticism of the criminal probe into Powell, saying that the Justice Department's move had "no place" in the country.
"The reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence," said the statement, which was also signed by other former US economic leaders.
The Fed has indicated it will hold interest rates steady at its next monetary policy meeting this month.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP and AP)
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