Commentary  There are presently five open slots on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the policymaking body for the Federal Reserve system. These are vacant because of political disagreements in the Senate. President Joe Biden has nominated someone for each seat, while last month Republicans on the Banking Committee called a halt to every one of the five over strenuous objections to one (Sarah Bloom Raskin) in particular. Among the stranded nominations is that for current Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell seeking his second four-year term atop the agency. This is a particularly inconvenient time for the supposedly independent central bank. Next Tuesday and Wednesday, the FOMC will get together and vote on what is certain to be the first rate hike since December 2018. Following several years of holding its monetary targets at and near the zero nominal level, while simultaneously conducting its largest program of so-called quantitative easing …