Cleveland Fed President Hammack emphasizes Fed’s independence from Treasury

Beth Hammack, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, is making a pointed case for something that shouldn’t need defending but increasingly does: the Fed’s right to operate without taking marching orders from the Treasury Department. Hammack stated plainly that the Treasury has its own goals, and the Fed operates independently for its own objectives. Why the distinction matters right now The Federal Reserve has two jobs, assigned by Congress: keep employment high and keep prices stable. The Treasury, meanwhile, manages the government’s finances, including how it borrows money and structures its debt. Hammack has been building this argument across multiple public addresses. In a February 2026 speech titled “Recipe for a Thriving US Economy,” she pointed to a pattern visible across the globe: central banks with less independence from their governments tend to preside over higher inflation rates. A 75-year-old lesson the Fed doesn’t want to relearn The idea that the Fed and Treasury should stay in their respective lanes isn’t a modern invention. It was formalized in 1951 with the Treasury-Fed Accord, one of those bureaucratic landmarks that sounds boring but reshaped the A...