Internal divisions in the Republican Party: Senators defend the independence of the Federal Reserve, while Vice President Vance takes a different stance.

A Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee emphasized the importance of the independence of the Federal Reserve on Sunday, which created a disagreement with Vice President JD Vance's statement that the president and elected officials should have a say in monetary policy. Republican Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma said in an interview that the Federal Reserve should independently set interest rates, while the president and Congress should have different responsibilities. "We all play different roles. The Federal Reserve can only function best when maintaining independence, but they are not completely detached from the American people," Lankford said, "Let's each do our job." President Trump has been criticizing the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell, for not lowering interest rates for several months. Last week, he announced the firing of the Fed's first African-American female director, Lisa Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud. Cook and her supporters claimed that this was just an excuse to remove her in order to appoint allies to the Fed. Critics slammed Trump for firing Cook and dismissing the Bureau of Labor Statistics director last month, arguing that the Republican president was trying to control historically independent institutions. Cook has filed a lawsuit to block her dismissal. Vance stated last week that claims the president cannot dismiss Fed officials or influence monetary policy are "absurd." "I firmly believe that the US president is more capable of making these decisions," he said. Lankford responded by stating that he believes the Federal Reserve should set interest rates, while the president and Congress should shape economic policy by enacting tax and tariff policies. Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna also supported the necessity of the Fed's independence in another interview, but called for Cook to publicly release her mortgage documents to ensure transparency. "She should remain transparent so that we can see that this is nothing but political games," he said, "but this is not about Lisa Cook herself, it's about Trump mimicking Nixon's intervention in the Fed and bullying the Fed." He was referring to former President Nixon pressuring the Fed to maintain low rates before the 1972 election. Although Nixon won that election, he resigned two years later due to the Watergate scandal. Khanna pointed out that Trump's tariff policies are pushing up inflation, making Fed rate cuts more complex.