Juana Summers

And the president has tried to strong-arm Powell into drastically cutting interest rates.

Trump has also closely scrutinized building reservations the Fed authorized that went over budget.

Through it all, Powell has stayed mostly measured and diplomatic.

Take the summer when President Trump toured Federal Reserve buildings being renovated and seemed to be building a case to fire Powell over those renovations' cost overruns.

Over the weekend, that changed.

NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley explained it on our sister podcast up first.

The subpoenas prompted Powell to release an uncharacteristically strong statement.

Trump has not been shy about trying to influence the Fed.

And while he told NBC News he doesn't know anything about the Department of Justice investigations, members of Congress, including some Republicans, say they're concerned the independence of the Federal Reserve is now at risk.

Consider this.

The Federal Reserve decides monetary policy across the United States.

Its decisions help shape the global economy.

What happens if that independence is threatened?

From NPR, I'm Juana Summers.

It's Consider This from NPR.

Adam Pozen is president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

He studied central bank independence for a very long time.

He says governments should treat monetary policymakers like surgeons or airline pilots.

The patient or passenger must let them work and evaluate their performance based on the results.

I asked him for his first reaction to the news of the Department of Justice's investigation.