The Trump administration’s move to open a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell escalates the US president’s long-running pressure campaign against the central bank, drawing fire from the Fed chief who called the move a “pretext” to influence interest rates and condemnation from former Fed chiefs and key members of Trump’s Republican Party.

The Justice Department’s threat of indictment, ostensibly focused on comments Powell made to Congress about a building renovation project, also sent rates on longer-term US Treasury bonds up, as investors parsed what a less independent Fed could mean for inflation and monetary policy.

Such a market reaction could, if amplified, constrain Trump’s efforts to reshape the Fed, considered the most influential central bank in the world and a cornerstone of the world financial system.

It could also backfire against Trump’s efforts to address broad concerns about “affordability” if long-term borrowing costs rise further.

The independence of central banks, at least in setting rates in order to control inflation, is considered a central tenet of robust economic policy, insulating monetary policymakers from short-term political considerations and allowing them to focus on longer-term efforts to keep prices relatively stable.

On Monday, former Fed chairs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan joined with former federal government........

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