WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Federal Reserve independence moved front and centre in Congress on Wednesday (July 10) as chairman Jerome Powell said he would not stand down from his job if President Donald Trump attempted to fire him.

House Financial Services Committee chairman Maxine Waters opened a semi-annual hearing on monetary policy by saying that central bank independence was the "elephant in the room" and added: "It is essential that the Federal Reserve maintains its independence from the executive branch."

Ms Waters, a California Democrat, asked Mr Powell directly: "If you got a call from the president today or tomorrow, and he said, 'I am firing you, pack up, it's time to go'. What would you do?''

Mr Powell said, in one of his strongest rebuffs before lawmakers of the notion: "Of course, I would not do that."

"I can't hear you," Ms Waters joked, causing laughter throughout the hearing room.

"My answer would be no," Mr Powell reiterated.

The exchange comes amid unprecedented attacks and attempted influence on monetary policy by President Trump, who has criticised both Mr Powell and the central bank's policy decisions.

In his answer to lawmakers on Wednesday, Mr Powell strongly reasserted the Fed's independence. That was something the president has tried to call into question, even though Congress has authority for oversight of the central bank.

Mr Trump discussed firing Mr Powell in late 2018 and asked White House lawyers earlier this year to explore options for removing him as Fed chairman, Bloomberg has reported.

Last month, Mr Trump denied in an interview that he had threatened to demote Mr Powell back to a board governor but said he would "be able to do that if I wanted".

The president has also tried to appoint several loyalists to the Board of Governors. Two past picks were panned by congressional members and failed to advance. Last week, Mr Trump said he will appoint Ms Judy Shelton to the Board of Governors. Ms Shelton said after the announcement that "this president really gets it" and that she "will strive to support the US pro-growth economic agenda with the appropriate monetary policy".

Senator Sherrod Brown, the ranking Democrat from Ohio on the Senate Banking Committee, called Ms Shelton "singularly unqualified" in comments to reporters on Tuesday.

Mr Trump also named St Louis Fed research director Christopher Waller for one of the two open seats on the board. Mr Waller works for St Louis Fed president James Bullard, who dissented at the June meeting in favour of a quarter-point rate cut. Senator Brown said he wants to meet Mr Waller, who "appears to be pretty good", he said.

Ms Waters' comments were followed by Mr Patrick McHenry, the ranking Republican on the committee from North Carolina, who asked Mr Powell if policy was "impeded'' by people saying positive or negative things about the central bank. Mr Powell said it was not.

Lawmakers from both parties are becoming more vocal in their defence of Fed independence. And Mr Powell embraced the central bank's independence in his opening testimony, noting that it comes with a need for transparency and accountability.

Senator Patrick Toomey, a member of the Senate Banking Committee where Mr Powell will testify on Thursday, said any attempt by the president to fire Mr Powell "would be a very, very bad idea".

"I don't think the president actually does have the legal authority to do that," Senator Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.