Foes of Fed independence take aim at enforcement

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh testified before the Senate Banking Committee on July 15 that “reform is coming to supervision and regulation.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 29 that Federal Reserve governors can only be fired for cause and held that the conduct of monetary policy was protected from presidential interference by Congress’s design.

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The Supreme Court shielded the central bank’s monetary policy primacy but left oversight powers vulnerable. Mission creep and blow-ups like SVB make those authorities an easy target. The risk is that tying the agency’s hands would make it harder to act as lender of last resort.