Since the start of his second term, Donald Trump has relentlessly pushed Federal Reserve (Fed) chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. He’s called Powell every name from a “numbskull” who “makes it hard for people to buy houses” to a “stubborn mule” and “major loser,” and consistently threatens to remove his appointment despite the dubious legality. This month, Trump escalated attacks by firing a top Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, over mortgage fraud allegations. She’s said she has no plans to step down, and has argued the courts will find the decision “unlawful and void.”

In light of this, everyone from financial investors to CEOs of big banks to democratic leaders and mainstream liberal media outlets have rallied in staunch support of Powell and the Fed’s political independence. Last week, the chairman spoke at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium and was received with a standing ovation. In a speech that did not acknowledge the tense political environment or its stakes, but focused instead on economic projections, Powell signaled that the Fed would possibly cut rates at the next quarterly Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on September 16. He argued that the effect of tariffs seemed likely to be “relatively short-lived,” while an economic recession posed a more persistent threat. The next day, stock prices surged showing that, in Keynesian terms, the speech “reignited animal spirits in the market.”

Given public spending cuts, weak growth, extreme inequality, and Trump’s broader authoritarian project, the liberal impulse to rally behind the comparatively methodical Fed — and more generally, to defend “stable institutions” — is understandable. Mainstream narratives argue that the Fed’s independence shields monetary policy decisions from short-term political cycles, making the institution more credible and effective. But much like the outcries to defend the Supreme Court, this instinct robs us of the opportunity to examine the institution more deeply and critically. The Fed is not a neutral guardian of democracy but a political body that insulates the government from radical economic demands and persistently acts in service of capital.