Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said legal political campaigndonations from central bank employees, including those of seniorFed officials, do not undermine its standing as a non-partisanagency.

“We are a non-partisan, independent institution devoted topursuing our congressionally mandated objectives,” Yellen saidWednesday in response to a question during a press conference inWashington. “I have never seen political views in any way influencethe policy judgments that are made inside the Federal Reserve. Iwant to say that emphatically.”

Yellen'sremarks came after Bloomberg News reported that Governor LaelBrainard, appointed to a top Treasury post by President BarackObama before she joined the Fed, gave $750 in three contributionsto Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign betweenNovember and January. A wider review of campaign giving revealedthat 79 percent of federal-level contributions from Fed stafferssince November 2004 had gone to Democrats.

The Fed has come under heavy criticism from lawmakers in recentyears, with some calling for heightened scrutiny of the centralbank. The Fed has pushed back, making the case that monetary policyneeds to be non-partisan and independent.

Yellen said Fed employees, like all federal government workers,are subject to restrictions on partisan political activity underthe 1939 Hatch Act, but are free under the law to make politicaldonations.

“It's up to each individual to decide what is appropriate,” shesaid. “But the Federal Reserve is not a partisan politicalorganization.”

Yellen spoke to the media following the Federal Open MarketCommittee's two-day meeting, where policy makers left their benchmark interest rate unchanged andscaled back forecasts for how high rates will rise thisyear.

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.