Republican lawmakers break from US president on Fed chair indictment

"United States Senator Lisa Murkowski threw her support behind fellow Republican Thom Tillis's plan to block President Donald Trump's Fed nominees after the Justice Department over the weekend threatened to indict Fed 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 on Monday."

"Since returning to office last year, Trump has been increasingly publicly pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates, breaking with longstanding practice meant to insulate the central bank from political pressure and allowing it to focus on economic data. Alaska lawmaker Murkowski 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 pretexts aimed at the Fed's basing interest rates on policy and not on Trump's preferences."

Former Federal Reserve chairs called the indictment an unprecedented attempt to undermine the independence of the US central bank in a joint letter. The Justice Department threatened to indict Fed Chairman Jerome Powell over renovation cost overruns at the Fed's new building, prompting Senator Lisa Murkowski to support Senator Thom Tillis's plan to block President Donald Trump's Fed nominees. Murkowski called the DOJ threat an attempt at coercion and urged Congress to investigate if probing the Fed were warranted. Powell said subpoenas received by the Fed were pretexts aimed at influencing rate decisions. Powell's term expires in May; Kevin Hassett is a potential successor.

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