The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans.

If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well.

We do not take into account the fortunes of any political party or politician.

It is not a foregone conclusion

Rising downside risks to employment have shifted our assessment of the balance of risks

without the ability to pay interest on reserves, the Fed would lose control over rates

If we move too slowly, there may be unnecessary losses, painful losses in the employment market.

Stopping sooner could have made some difference, but not likely enough to fundamentally alter the trajectory of the economy

the outlook for employment and inflation does not appear to have changed much since our September meeting

We may approach that point in coming months

If we move too quickly, then we may leave the inflation job unfinished and have to come back later and finish it.

Job growth, he said, has slowed considerably and that the downside risks to employment are rising.

Overall, while the labor market appears to be in balance, it is a curious kind of balance that results from a marked slowing in both the supply of and demand for workers.

I haven’t heard that.

I would agree that climate is the biggest risk.

It is a big risk to our independence if we were to stray into areas where we shouldn’t that really aren’t part of our mandate.

I won’t bow to political pressure when it comes to setting monetary policy.

When you significantly slow the growth of the labor force, you will slow the growth of the economy.

There are no new water features, there’s no beehives, and there’s no roof terrace gardens

I'm very focused on just doing my job.

We're trying to deliver macro stability, financial stability, economic stability for the benefit of all the people.

If we're going to do that successfully, we need to do it in a completely nonpolitical way, which means we don't take sides, we don't play one side against the other, we stay out of issues that are really not our bailiwick.

So we didn't overreact — in fact, we didn't react at all. We're simply taking some time.

I have nothing for you on that today.