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US Federal Reserve employees overwhelmingly donate to Democratic causes, according to data originally posted on X by a former Fed trader and verified by Semafor. That may not be so surprising, given most Fed employees live in cities, which lean left.
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When inevitably brought to President-elect Donald Trump’s attention — among its amplifiers are some MAGA faithful — the data will provide more fodder for his efforts to exert control over the central bank or even fire its leader, Jay Powell. Elon Musk, for now a minister without a portfolio in Trump world, has posted in support of efforts to erode the Fed’s independence. Powell, for his part, has said he won’t go and that removing him before his term expires in 2026 is illegal.
Political pressure on the Fed hasn’t only come from Republicans. Democrats including Sen. Elizabeth Warren were calling for rate cuts earlier this year to make mortgages cheaper. A landmark study in 1993 by future US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and decorated Italian economist Alberto Alesina found that countries with independent central banks had lower inflation.