{"id":1549793,"date":"2025-07-29T23:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1549793"},"modified":"2025-07-29T23:15:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T03:15:00","slug":"judge-rejects-bid-to-open-feds-closed-door-meetings-on-interest-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/judge-rejects-bid-to-open-feds-closed-door-meetings-on-interest-rates\/1549793\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rejects Bid To Open Fed’s Closed-Door Meetings On Interest Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judge Rejects Bid To Open Fed’s Closed-Door Meetings On Interest Rates<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

A federal judge in Washington has rejected an investment firm\u2019s request to force the Federal Reserve to open its closed-door monetary policy meetings to the public.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell on July 28 denied Azoria Capital Inc.\u2019s request for an emergency order requiring the Fed to hold its upcoming interest rate deliberations in public.<\/p>\n

Azoria Capital sued last week, arguing<\/a> that the central bank\u2019s decades\u2011long practice of holding Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) sessions behind closed doors violates the \u201cGovernment in the Sunshine Act.\u201d That law<\/a> generally requires multimember agencies to allow the public to attend their meetings, a standard Azoria claims the Fed failed to meet, subjecting the company to irreparable harm.<\/p>\n

During Monday\u2019s hearing, Howell said the Sunshine Act does not apply to the FOMC and concluded Azoria was unlikely to prevail on the merits. The ruling allows the Fed to continue its long\u2011standing practice of deliberating privately on interest\u2011rate decisions, which officials argue is necessary to prevent market disruption.<\/p>\n

In its filings, Azoria alleged that the FOMC, led by Chair Jerome Powell, may be keeping rates elevated for political reasons.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAzoria is deeply concerned that the FOMC, under Chair Jerome Powell, is maintaining high interest rates to undermine President Donald J. Trump and his economic agenda,\u201d the complaint states, adding that secrecy \u201cunlawfully deprive[s] Azoria and the American public of timely access to deliberations that may reveal improper political motives behind the FOMC\u2019s decisions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The FOMC, a 12\u2011member panel made up of Federal Reserve governors and regional bank presidents, meets eight times a year to set monetary policy. After each meeting, it releases a policy statement followed by a press conference from the chair. Detailed minutes are published several weeks later, providing more context on the debate.<\/p>\n

Federal Reserve lawyers argued in a response brief<\/a> that the Sunshine Act does not cover the FOMC because its members serve on the committee by virtue of other positions, rather than being appointed directly. <\/strong>Even if the law applied, they said, its exemptions allow closed sessions when disclosure could trigger \u201csignificant financial speculation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaintiff has put forth no evidence that it faces any great harm,\u201d Fed attorneys wrote, adding that it \u201cwould not be in the public interest to grant Plaintiff\u2019s request to further its pecuniary interests at the expense of the FOMC\u2019s ability to fulfill its statutory mandate and protect the Nation\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

After the hearing, Azoria Capital CEO James Fishback issued a statement<\/a> saying that the court denied his emergency request for a temporary restraining order, not the underlying lawsuit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said Azoria would continue pressing its case and pointed to two developments: the court declined to dismiss the suit outright, and Fed lawyers acknowledged that the FOMC meeting would be held jointly with the Fed\u2019s board of governors, which is subject to the Sunshine Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cAzoria believes these joint meetings between the FOMC and Board of Governors may be an attempt to dodge the Sunshine Act and deny Americans their legal right to know what the Federal Reserve is actually doing,\u201d Fishback said.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAzoria looks forward to continuing our case and fighting for transparency and accountability for all Americans.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision came as the FOMC began a two\u2011day meeting expected to leave interest rates unchanged for a fifth straight time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Powell has said policymakers want to gauge how the economy responds to Trump\u2019s tariffs before adjusting interest rates, particularly whether the duties will feed inflation.<\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly accused Powell of \u201cplaying politics\u201d <\/strong>with monetary policy and demanded rate cuts to spur growth and lower the government\u2019s debt\u2011service costs.<\/p>\n

Minutes from the Fed\u2019s June meeting revealed<\/a> divisions among officials: some favor cuts later this year if inflation eases, while others see little justification for easing given robust economic conditions.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Trump again called on the Fed to cut interest rates, saying it would help propel the U.S. economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think he has to,\u201d <\/em>Trump said of Powell, speaking alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer following their meeting in Scotland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nTue, 07\/29\/2025 – 19:15<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/judge-rejects-bid-open-feds-closed-door-meetings-interest-rates<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judge Rejects Bid To Open Fed’s Closed-Door Meetings On Interest Rates Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times, A federal judge in Washington has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1549794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1549793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1549793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1549794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1549793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1549793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1549793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}