The FOMC is where monetary policy is decided
The Federal Open Market Committee sets the central direction of US monetary policy. It has twelve voting members: the seven members of the Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and four of the remaining eleven Reserve Bank presidents on a rotating basis.
That structure intentionally distributes influence between a federal board in Washington and a regional Reserve Bank system.
Political appointment does not mean day-to-day political control
Board members are appointed through the federal political process, but the Federal Reserve is structured to make monetary-policy decisions without taking instructions from the White House. Congress created the system and can change its statutory framework, while elected officials can scrutinise its decisions.
The practical result is delegated power: democratic institutions establish the mandate and architecture, while specialised officials make individual interest-rate decisions.
Why interest-rate power reaches beyond the Fed
Changes in the federal funds rate influence other interest rates, credit conditions, exchange rates and ultimately economic activity and prices. That makes FOMC decisions politically consequential even though the committee is not an elected legislature.
The useful question is therefore not simply whether the Fed is 'independent'. It is independent in specific operational respects while remaining a creature of statute with defined public mandates and accountability mechanisms.