Three former chairs of the Federal Reserve and other top former economic officials are rebuking the Department of Justice for launching an investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying the probe will undermine the central bank’s independence and hurt the U.S. economy. The statement, posted on Substack on Monday, was signed by former Fed Chairs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan, as well as by former Treasury Secretaries Timothy Geithner, Jacob Lew, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin.”The reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence,” the signers of the statement said. “This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly.President Trump has pushed the Fed to more aggressively cut interest rates, arguing that the U.S. economy would benefit from lower borrowing costs. Powell has long defended the central bank’s independence on the grounds that shielding the Fed from political influence allows monetary policy makers to make objective decisions based on economic data, rather than the interests of elected officials. Justice Department subpoenas to the Fed threaten a criminal indictment related to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June 2025, Powell said in a video statement on Sunday. “That testimony concerned in part a multi-year project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings,” Powell said.The Fed’s independence was underscored in Monday’s letter from the former Fed chairs, Treasury secretaries and other officials.Other former senior economic officials to sign the statement: Jared Bernstein, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) under former President Joe Biden; Jason Furman, CEA chair under former President Barack Obama; Glenn Hubbard and Gregory Mankiw, who both led the CEA under former President George W. Bush; Kenneth Rogoff, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund; ad Christina Romer, CEA chair under Obama.”The Federal Reserve’s independence and the public’s perception of that independence are critical for economic performance, including achieving the goals Congress has set for the Federal Reserve of stable prices, maximum employment, and moderate long-term interest rates,” the signers wrote. — This is a developing story and will be updated

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