Investing.com -- In the wake of Wednesday's contentious House Financial Services Committee hearing, a pair of regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents came to the defense of Janet Yellen on Thursday.
Yellen, the Federal Reserve chair, endured an intense line of questioning from several Republican members of the committee during her testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill. The congressmen took umbrage at the central bank's perceived lack of transparency and failure to remain independent of political influences.
"I wish we were all as poised as Janet Yellen was yesterday," Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland president Loretta Mester told CNBC. "We have had some questions about our transparency, but as you know the Fed has been working on our transparency and communication over the years."
"I am certainly one who thinks that the Fed is accountable to Congress and the American public and we behave in a manner that shows that we are."
Yellen received pointed criticism from Rep. Scott Garrett (R., New Jersey) for caving to political influences by holding weekly meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. But James Bullard, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president, said the meetings were common even among Yellen's predecessors Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan.
"Every chair has met with the Treasury Department," Bullard told CNBC. "I think she is a very balanced, careful thinker on monetary policy so I don't see these charges as being well-founded."
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, though, indicated that the Fed's monetary policy decisions still need to be more closely scrutinized.
"The Federal Reserve doesn't have a monopoly on hiring smart economists. There's a lot of smart economists in this nation and they ought to be able to judge this policy in a more open, transparent fashion." Hensarling told CNBC.
Yellen was also questioned by several congressmen on the appropriateness of making a speech on income inequality shortly before the mid-term elections.
One prominent economist was not surprised about the hostile environment that prevailed in Wednesday's hearing.
"It is always acrimonious," Greenspan told CNBC.