WSJ tells us this morning that the executive board of the New York Fed is beginning to chafe at the bit, as rules and pressure impair their ability to rule the world from that post – and occasionally even impair their inability to do the job in question.

First, Timmay was a way total bitch about picking his replacement:

[William] Dudley, a 56-year-old former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economist who ran the New York Fed’s markets division, got the top job after a two-month search, succeeding new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Behind the scenes, the hiring process triggered concerns with some New York Fed directors, including General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeff Immelt and PepsiCo Inc. CEO Indra Nooyi, according to people familiar with the situation. One reason: Mr. Geithner took an active role in recommending his successor, lobbying hard for Mr. Dudley and against other candidates, attendees said.

It isn’t unusual for outgoing Fed presidents to provide such input. But Mr. Dudley’s case is different, some observers said, because Mr. Geithner was a political nominee at the time. Injecting a White House appointee’s views into the process, they suggested, may have meddled.

It’s your Geithner. He… interferes.

Other drama:

JP Morgan Chase & Co. CEO James Dimon, for instance, aired frustrations to associates that New York Fed rules curbing directors’ political activities stymied his backing of Barack Obama for president.

The lack of clout upsets some directors. Ms. Nooyi was critical during an audit-committee meeting late last year where she and other directors were briefed, after the fact, on how the New York Fed handled the bailout of American International Group Inc.

James Dimon. That’s what hardasses they are. They wouldn’t even let him campaign as ‘Jamie’.

Man, with all the populist outrage, TARP restrictions, etc, it’s already hard out there for a Master of the Universe. And it’s harder, apparently, when you sit on the NYFed’s board.