(Bloomberg) -- Jerome Powell’s swift action to enact new stiff trading rules for senior Federal Reserve officials has the potential to improve his chances for renomination as chair by showing leadership while under fire, according to some Fed watchers.

“Powell showed leadership and the ability to do the right thing quickly,” said Roberto Perli, a partner at Cornerstone Macro LLC and a former Fed economist. “So, if anything, I think this strengthens his candidacy. The Fed needs an independent chair, as it’s always had, not a politicized one.”

Related: Fed Restricts Senior Officials’ Trading After Ethics Scandal

President Joe Biden’s selection of a new Fed chair had seemed to grow more complicated in the past few weeks as a scandal over stock trades by several top officials was seen as possibly damaging Powell’s prospects for a second four-year term after his current one ends in February.

“I don’t think there is anything that will satisfy Powell’s small but vocal group of critics -- they will continue to use any argument they can find, even if wrongheaded like in this case, to try to derail his candidacy,” Perli said.

The Fed’s speed to act was extraordinarily rapid for an arm of the U.S. government, said Peter Conti-Brown, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I would hope those who oppose Jay Powell fight him vociferously on the merits,” he said. “I don’t think his trading or management to this process are disqualifying. The Fed is holding itself to a higher standard than the standard held for those critical politicians.”

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