WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen came under fire Wednesday from House Republicans, who challenged the central bank’s lack of accountability during her second day of testimony to Congress.
After she gave her semiannual economic report, GOP lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee grilled Yellen with a basket of complaints.
They questioned her opposition to GOP legislation that would expand the ability of Congress to audit the Fed’s operations. They accused her of being unduly influenced by Democrats. Rep. Sean Duffy, a Republican from Wisconsin, criticized Yellen for giving a major speech on income inequality in the midst of last fall’s congressional campaigns – just as Democrats were trying to make a major issue of income inequality.
Rep. Scott Garrett, a Republican from New Jersey, said a review of her meeting calendars painted a “pretty damning picture that the Fed is immersed and guided by partisan politics.”
Yellen, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, rejected those suggestions and staunchly defended the Fed’s independence.