A slew of Federal Reserve officials spoke to the importance of central bank independence on Wednesday in response to questions about the news that the U.S. Department of Justice issued subpoenas to the Fed focused on a costly building renovation and Fed Chair Jerome Powell¡¯s congressional testimony last year about the project.

Among those, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari became the first policymaker to explicitly back Powell¡¯s counterclaim that the DOJ¡¯s investigation was a pretext for putting more pressure on the central bank on interest rates.

¡°The escalation over the course of the past year is really about monetary policy,¡± Kashkari said in an interview with the New York Times.

At an event hosted by the Wisconsin Bankers Association, Kashkari suggested the Fed¡¯s independence on monetary policy would remain protected even after U.S. President Donald Trump replaces Powell, whose term as chair ends in May.

¡°That person gets one vote and the best argument wins,¡± he said. ¡°I feel confident that the committee will continue to make the best decisions we can, based on data and analysis.¡±

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Atlanta¡¯s Raphael Bostic also extolled the importance of the Fed¡¯s ability to set rates free of political interference, as did New York Fed President John Williams on Monday.

¡°The independence of the Fed couldn¡¯t be more important for the long-run inflation rate in this country,¡± Goolsbee said Wednesday in an interview on NPR.

Fed Gov. Stephen Miran, who is on unpaid leave as one of Trump¡¯s top White House economic advisers, took a different tack when asked about the DOJ probe and about claims that it might undermine confidence that the Fed will remain committed to holding down inflation.

¡°I don¡¯t really buy that. I think that inflation is very much headed in the right direction,¡± Miran said at an event in Athens. ¡°Inflation¡¯s on the right trajectory. It¡¯s coming down. The mechanics of all the components are in the right place. And you know, this other stuff is just noise.¡±

Miran also took issue with a statement issued by a host of global central bank heads expressing ¡°full solidarity¡± with Powell in fighting the investigation.

¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s appropriate for central bankers to get involved in nonmonetary policy issues in their own country, and I think it¡¯s even less appropriate in other countries,¡± he said.

In their commentary on the economy, the same group of policymakers, excluding Miran, signaled they are unlikely to support another rate cut when officials gather later this month. Kashkari was, again, the most direct.

In his interview with the New York Times, he said rates should remain unchanged at the Fed¡¯s Jan. 27-28 meeting. Kashkari, who votes...