The Lunacy of Lawfare Against the Fed

Criminalizing a spat over interest rates is an Argentina-level mistake

WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"The complaint in MAGA quarters is that the multiyear renovation of several office buildings in the Fed’s Washington, D.C., campus is running way over budget—the cost is said to total some $2.5 billion now, up from a $1.9 billion estimate when the refurbishment started.

It’s a dubious project, with a zoning application that envisioned a new underground parking garage and concourse connecting two buildings, atria and water features, a jazzed up “executive” dining facility, and luxury finishes. It’s also not the first government building project to run over budget. And if you think this cost overrun matters to the federal budget you missed a few decimal points and commas in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act."

"Now that Congress is interested in the Fed, lawmakers have plenty of better ways to spend their time. They could debate the dual mandate (price stability, plus full employment) they handed the Fed in the 1970s, or the appropriateness of the Fed’s ample-reserves regime, its delivery of forward guidance, or its practice of paying interest on banks’ reserve balances and whether Congress could or should act to curtail any of this."