TOP NEWS | Wed Sep 28, 2016 | 2:42pm EDT

Lawmaker accuses Fed of being 'cozy' with Obama administration

By Jason Lange | WASHINGTON

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen denied on Wednesday accusations by a Republican lawmaker that she let politics influence interest rate policy, saying she was unaware of any contact between a top Fed policymaker and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

In a House of Representatives committee hearing, Representative Scott Garrett pressed Yellen over media reports that Fed Governor Lael Brainard might take a top job in the next administration if Clinton wins the Nov. 8 election. "The Fed has an unacceptably cozy relationship both with the Obama administration and with higher ups in the Democratic Party," Garrett said.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday accused Yellen of keeping interest rates low to support the current administration.

Yellen on Wednesday repeated the Fed's position that politics never plays a role in its decisions. "I have never seen that," she said.

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