The Federal Reserve has been under intense pressure from President Donald Trump as he pushes for more control over the historically independent agency. The Fed is tasked with keeping inflation and unemployment under control, and it’s supposed to be insulated from politics so it can do whatever is necessary for the economy. But Trump has been openly saying he wants interest rates to be lower. A lot lower.
And on Monday, Trump posted a bombshell. He said that he was removing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, “for cause.” Lisa Cook has told NPR she intends to remain in office, and is now suing Trump.
On today’s show: inside the Fed Board of Governors. How realistic is a plan to control monetary policy through loyalists on the Board? We hear from former Board governors to understand what the job is, and what we might be in for.
Further listening on the Fed and Fed independence:
– A primer on the Federal Reserve’s independence
– Happy Fed Independence Day
– The case for Fed independence in the Nixon tapes
– A Locked Door, A Secret Meeting And The Birth Of The Fed
– Trump’s unprecedented attack on the Fed
– Turkey’s runaway inflation problem
– Should presidents have more of a say in interest rates?
Listen free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the NPR app or anywhere you get podcasts.
Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.
Help support Planet Money and hear our bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

-
Lisa Cook and the fight for the Fed
The Federal Reserve has been under intense pressure from President Donald Trump as he pushes for more control over the historically independent agency. The Fed is tasked with keeping inflation and unemployment under control, and…
-
Summer School 8: Graduation LIVE!
Get your own personalized summer school diploma here. Today on our final episode of Summer School 2025, we will test your knowledge. We will salute the unsung heroes of government service. And we will pick our valedictorian from…
-
Buy discount Ozempic here now click this link
In the past couple years, demand has gone wild for drugs like Ozempic – and its cousins, Zepbound, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. For people who had never been able to lose weight before, suddenly the numbers…
-
When our inflation infeelings don’t match the CPI
For most Americans, we just lived through the highest period of inflation in our lives. And we are reminded of this every time we go grocery shopping. All over TikTok, tons of people have posted…
-
Summer School 7: Trade blocks and blockages
Tariffs are the favorite tool of our current president, but there are lots of other ways that governments insert themselves into the free exchange of goods and services. Some of these trade barriers are so…
-
What happens when governments cook the books
After President Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, economists and statisticians across the board were horrified. Because the firing raises the spectre of potential manipulation – and it raises the worry…
-
Summer School 6: When the markets need a designer
In economics, a market is a place (even virtual) where buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods or services. Economists love markets. It’s like all of our supply and demand graphs have come to life.…
-
Summer School 5: The many ways governments influence industry
LIVE SHOW: August 18th in Brooklyn. Tickets here. Traditional economics says the market is guided by the forces of supply and demand. Customers decide what they want to buy, and private enterprise responds to that…
-
Would you trust an economist with your economy?
Trust in experts is down. In all kinds of institutions and professions – in government, in media, in medical science… and lately, economists are feeling the burn acutely. In fact, President Trump just fired the…
-
Summer School 4: Who are all these regulations protecting?
LIVE SHOW: August 18th in Brooklyn. Tickets here. There are occasional incentives in business that make it very profitable to do bad things; maybe cheat at the game and steal other people’s ideas, or cut…