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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters on Thursday that he has no intention of resigning from the position he was appointed to at the request of President Donald Trump, saying he has no intention of resigning after the president ends his 2026 term. He said he is not obligated to resign if he requests it before the termination.
Powell was appointed by President Trump in 2017 (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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important facts
Powell has rejected the idea of resigning, saying “no” at a news conference Thursday when asked if he thought he would need to resign if asked by the president.
According to the American think tank Brookings, the removal of Chairman Powell from his post as chairman is a bit of a legal gray area, and there is no statute specifying the details of whether the president can remove the chairman, and other presidents cannot He pointed out that he had determined that he did not have the authority to dismiss the chairman. The power to fire someone from their position.
But no president has ever attempted to remove the Federal Reserve chairman from office, so that power has not been legally tested.
An anonymous senior Trump adviser told CNN that Trump will not try to remove Powell during the remainder of his term, which ends in 18 months.
According to MarketWatch, Fed experts also do not expect President Trump to try to fire Powell.
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tangent
The Federal Reserve on Thursday cut the federal funds rate from 4.5% to 4.75%, the lowest level since March 2023 and the second rate cut in recent months following a historic series of rate hikes aimed at curbing inflation. . Economists are now focusing on key changes in Trump’s next term that could jeopardize further rate cuts, citing the president-elect’s tariff proposals.
Main background
Powell, a Republican, was appointed by President Trump in 2017 and reappointed by President Joe Biden in 2021. He has faced consistent criticism from President Trump, who has repeatedly called for his removal as chairman. In 2018, after the Fed raised interest rates, Trump considered replacing Powell. A year later, the former president called Mr. Powell an “enemy” over disagreements over rate cuts. According to CNN, President Trump claimed he had the authority to fire Powell in 2020, saying that Powell “made a lot of bad decisions, in my opinion.” Powell said he plans to complete the remainder of his term this summer. President Trump has strongly advocated the independence of the Federal Reserve, and in August he said that “the president should at least have a say” about interest rates, but he also said that interest rates are better than the Fed and Powell in terms of economic performance. He prided himself on his intuition.
Read more
Fed cuts interest rates again – but uncertainty swirls as Trump policy could accelerate inflation (Forbes)
