<h1>Federal Reserve chair nomination could test central bank independence and board control as president announces nominee Friday morning</h1> The article addresses the presidential appointment of a new Federal Reserve chair and attendant threats to central bank independence. It explains that the President seeks a nominee favoring aggressive rate cuts, while the Fed Chair argued for policy driven by economic assessment, noting DOJ subpoenas and threatened criminal investigations as pressures on independent decisionmaking; that assertion frames prosecutorial actions as potentially punitive to monetary independence. It outlines procedural constraints: the chairs board membership term could allow continuation that would impede a presidential effort to reshape board majority, and replacing a temporarily serving governor presents an alternative route for appointment control.