, Columnist
Will the Fed’s Independence Survive the Supreme Court?
Chief Justice Roberts’ ruling in an FTC case leaves the Federal Reserve as the sole independent agency whose members the president can’t fire.
Dismantling the myth of the independent agency.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
And then there was one.
One “independent” federal agency, I mean. That, at least, is the way it pays to bet. Yes, there might be other ways to read Chief Justice John Roberts’ order, announced Monday, that allows President Donald Trump to fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission. But the simplest understanding is that, quite soon, the Federal Reserve will stand alone as the sole federal agency whose members the White House can’t dismiss.