The head of the US Central Bank pledges to perform his duty if he is under pressure from Trump

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh pledged on Tuesday to “do our duty” if he comes under pressure from President Donald Trump, in what appears to be his most frank comment yet on how he would deal with the kind of pressure that his predecessor faced during most of his term.

In response to a question about his behavior if Trump continued to target the Federal Reserve with efforts that included an attempt to dismiss Lisa Cook, a member of the Council, Warsh said before the House Financial Services Committee that the US Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the independence of the Federal Reserve in determining monetary policy.

Warsh told lawmakers that if he was personally targeted, “I will continue to do my duty,” echoing comments made by former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on various occasions when asked what he would do if Trump tried to fire him.

Warsh took over dealing with the economy and with Trump at a stage whose course is difficult to predict. Inflation currently exceeds the Federal Reserve’s target of two percent, in addition to uncertainty about the conflict in the Middle East.

Data showed earlier on Tuesday that the rate of consumer price inflation in the United States slowed more than expected, reaching 3.5 percent on an annual basis in June, due to lower energy prices.

Traders see only about a 12 percent probability of raising the interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point at the Reserve Board meeting scheduled for July 28 and 29, compared to about 42 percent on Monday, according to the CME Group’s “Fed Watch” tool.

Traders estimate the probability of raising interest rates at the September 15-16 meeting at about 53 percent, down from about 75 percent the previous day.