- Reporters asked Jerome Powell whether he’d resign if President-elect Donald Trump asked him to.
- Powell responded with one word: “No.”
- Trump has been critical of Powell, but a president can’t legally fire a Fed official without cause.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has no plans to leave the central bank prematurely under Donald Trump.
The Federal Open Market Committee announced a 25-basis-point interest-rate cut on Thursday, two days after Trump won the presidential election.
While economists expect Trump’s proposed tariffs to boost inflation, Powell refused to comment on things directly related to the election or politics during his Thursday press conference. But when a reporter asked Powell if he’d resign should Trump ask him to, the head of the central bank responded, “No.”
When a different reporter later asked if the president has the power to fire or demote the head of the Fed, Powell responded, “Not permitted under the law.”
Trump appointed Powell in 2018, and President Joe Biden reappointed him in 2022.
Trump has indicated he’d like to see changes in how the Fed functions. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that some members of Trump’s team were crafting a plan that would give Trump authority to oust Powell before his term ends in 2026. The plan was also said to include a path to give Trump a say in interest-rate decisions, jeopardizing the Fed’s independence.
In an August interview with Bloomberg, Trump said he didn’t need to be “calling the shot” but argued that he should be able to talk about interest-rate decisions. He also said he’d support Powell finishing his term, “especially if I thought he was doing the right thing.”
The law allows for a president to remove a Fed official only if there is cause; policy disagreements wouldn’t suffice. In February, Trump accused Powell of being “political” by making decisions that could help Democrats win elections.
“It looks to me like he’s trying to lower interest rates for the sake of maybe getting people elected,” Trump told Fox News.
Powell has held firm that the Fed isn’t political, telling reporters on Thursday that the election would have “no effects on our policy decisions.”
“We don’t guess, we don’t speculate, and we don’t assume,” Powell said. “Just in principle, it’s possible that any administration’s policies, or policies put in place by Congress, could have economic effects that, over time, would matter for our pursuit of our dual-mandate goals.”
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