This typically dull congressional hearing could alter the direction of America’s economy

By Bryan Mena, CNN

Washington (CNN) — President Donald Trump’s ambition to revamp the Federal Reserve could get a significant boost at a confirmation hearing Thursday. The future of the world’s most powerful central bank and the direction of the US economy stand in the balance.

At 10 a.m., the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Stephen Miran, one of Trump’s top economic advisers, to fill a vacant seat on the Fed’s Board of Governors. It’s a crucial step in Trump’s efforts to reshape the Fed, potentially eroding its long-accepted independence from politics, which in part has helped the US economy grow to and remain the world’s largest over the past century.

Meanwhile, less than a mile away from Capitol Hill, a federal judge will review new court filings from the Trump administration and perhaps rule as early as Thursday whether Lisa Cook, whom the president fired last week, can remain as a Fed governor while her lawsuit challenging Trump’s removal order moves forward in litigation.

Since the beginning of the year, the Fed has been subject to unprecedented attacks by the Trump administration because central bankers haven’t heeded the president’s demands to lower interest rates. Fed officials have stood pat since December because they’ve wanted to see how the US economy responds to Trump’s sweeping policies first, though they’re gearing up for a rate cut in two weeks.

The attacks on the Fed — and the likelihood of a Trump loyalist soon serving on the central bank’s board — raise the question as to whether the Fed’s crucial decisions on interest rates will remain truly free of politics as Trump gives the US central bank’s leadership a makeover.

In his prepared testimony, Miran said the Fed’s rate-setting committee “is an independent group with a monumental task, and I intend to preserve that independence and serve the American people to the best of my ability.”

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

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