MNI BRIEF: Powell Says Fed Has Tools To Defend Independence

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday said the central bank has "without question" the tools to defend its independence and Fed independence is "broadly understood and supported" on Capitol Hill.

"I talk to elected representatives in both political parties in the House and the Senate and I think there's very strong support on both sides of the aisle on both sides of Capitol Hill for an independent Fed," he said in Q&A at an event in Amsterdam. "The Fed is doing the absolute best we can with the tools that we have in the understanding of the economy that we have. I think that that is very broadly understood and supported on Capitol Hill. I'm less worried about that than the sort of things that have been in the press lately might suggest."

Fed independence "is an institutional arrangement that has benefited the public," Powell said. "Congress can change it anytime they want. It would take Congress to change it though. There is nothing the executive can do. Again, I don't think that's likely."