President Trump appears to be inching closer to firing Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, according to news reports and his own comments.
Bloomberg reported that the president is likely to remove Powell “soon,” quoting a White House official, and CBS News reported that Trump indicated he would do so while polling House GOP members about his next move during a meeting in the Oval Office Tuesday night.
The New York Times reported that Trump even showed those lawmakers a draft of a Powell firing letter.
But Bloomberg and The New York Times also both noted in their reports that Trump has not made a final decision.
These signals of a possible firing come after Trump on Tuesday told reporters that Powell’s handling of a $2.5 billion renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters “sort of is” a fireable offense.
Any final move by the president to oust the Fed chair could lead to a legal war with Powell, who has argued he can’t be removed by law.
The president also appeared in his latest comments to narrow his choices to replace Powell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is an “option,” but not the top choice, “because I like the job he is doing,” he said.
The Washington Post and Bloomberg reported this week that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is rising as an early front-runner in the race to replace Powell, although former Fed governor Kevin Warsh is also under consideration. Fed governor Christopher Waller is another possibility.
Bessent, though, is “probably not that much of an option,” Trump said Tuesday, citing what he views as his good performance as Treasury secretary.
“He’s a very soothing force.”
President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) · ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trump has been hammering Powell for months over what Trump viewed as a refusal to ease monetary policy for political and personal reasons, referring to Powell publicly as “dumb,” a numbskull,” a “stubborn mule,” “stupid,” a “moron,” and a “fool.”
Trump nominated Powell for the Fed chair seat during his first administration, and his current term is scheduled to run until May of 2026.
Read more: How much control does the president have over the Fed and interest rates?
Trump’s allies in recent weeks have used another tactic to turn up the pressure on Powell: They have invoked a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters as a way to question the chair’s management of the institution and whether he told Congress the truth about the project during testimony in June.
Trump said Tuesday that “the one thing I wouldn’t have guessed is he would be spending two and a half million dollars to build a little extension onto the Fed.”
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