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WASHINGTON — Barney Frank, the senior Democrat on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, is pushing to remove the power that regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents have to weigh in on interest-rate decisions. Frank, D-Mass., introduced legislation Tuesday that would cut the five rotating regional representatives from the 12-member Federal Open Market Committee.
Eliminating the regional presidents, selected by board members of their banks and approved by the Fed’s governors, will make interest-rate votes more democratic, Frank said in a statement.
Regional Fed president Thomas Hoenig of Kansas City, Mo., called the idea a “tragic mistake.” Others may follow if the threat to their voting gains traction. Bloomberg News
