Bill Bill Dudley, former chairman of the Federal Reserve in New York, said on Monday that the independence of the Federal Reserve (Fed) was not threatened and that the COVID-19 crisis forced the Fed and the White House to work together on economic recovery.

"I don't see any conflict between the Fed, the government and Congress," Mr Dudley said. They want the same thing: to stimulate economic recovery. "

In August last year, Dudley published a controversial column suggesting that the Fed should take economic measures to prevent Trump's re-election.

At that time, the Federal Reserve began to cut interest rates to ease the economy from international trade conflicts, and Trump called on the Fed to cut interest rates more aggressively. A few weeks later, Dudley said in a column that interest rate cuts could "rescue governments that have been making the wrong choices about trade policy". His advice: refuse to cut interest rates and bear the bad economic consequences of Trump, "including the risk that Trump will lose his chance of re-election."

Shortly after that, a Republican senator called for an investigation. The Fed itself immediately rejected Dudley's proposal and issued a rare statement saying that "political factors absolutely do not play a role in policy-making."

Dudley defended the article, saying it was a "thought experiment" and said he was not suggesting that the Fed deliberately sabotage the economy to prevent Trump from being re-elected.

"I'm not saying that the Fed should act in some way or influence the outcome of the election in some way, which is totally inappropriate," Dudley said. I believed then, and I believe now, that the Fed needs to set monetary policy in accordance with its established goals. "

Dudley said the COVID-19 epidemic requires the Fed to work closely with the Treasury to support the economy. Recently, as the economic recovery seems to have lost some momentum, the Fed has been putting pressure on the White House and Congress to provide targeted financial support to businesses and households.

Mr Dudley said he was concerned that further reliance on the Fed's policies would not yield much because the Fed's tools were "rapidly weakening".