Exclusive: Fed should be independent but has made mistakes, Treasury Secretary Bessent says

Source: Reuters

September 1, 2025 3:17 PM EDT Updated 1 hour ago


ARLINGTON, Virginia, Sept 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday the Federal Reserve is and should be independent but said it had "made a lot of mistakes" and defended President Donald Trump's right to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud.

Trump has criticized the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, for months for not lowering interest rates, and recently took aim at Powell over a costly renovation of the bank's Washington headquarters. "The Fed should be independent. The Fed is independent, but I, I also think that they've made a lot of mistakes," Bessent told Reuters in an interview at a diner in suburban Washington.

Asked whether the administration's efforts to remove Cook looked like an attempt to give Trump a chance to appoint a majority on the board of governors, Bessent said: "Well, or is it you're having to do the Fed's job for 'em?"

Independent central banks are widely seen as crucial to a stable global financial system. essent said the makeup of the Fed board - with regional bank governors - meant the president could not "stack the board."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fed-should-be-independent-has-made-mistakes-treasury-secretary-bessent-says-2025-09-01/