Trump backs off his push to fire Fed's Powell

Yahoo

23-04-2025

This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has 'no intention' of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
'Never did,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'The press runs away with things.'
Trump's comments Tuesday may seem at odds with a post he made last week on Truth Social, expressing that Powell's 'termination cannot come fast enough!'
'The [European Central Bank] is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, 'Too Late' Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete 'mess!'' Trump wrote. 'Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS. Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now.'
Trump doubled down Monday, asserting, in another post, that there is 'virtually no inflation … but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW.'
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters Friday that Trump was studying whether he's able to fire Powell.
'Not permitted under the law,' Powell said in November, after Trump's reelection, in response to a reporter's question on the subject.
The seven members of the Fed's Board of Governors can only be removed 'for cause,' according to the Federal Reserve Act. That typically is interpreted as malfeasance, dereliction of duty or other serious misconduct. A 1930s Supreme Court ruling commonly referred to as Humphrey's Executor also backs that up.
The Justice Department, however, is seeking to overturn that standard as part of its argument pertaining to Trump's move to fire the top brass at several independent agencies over policy disagreements.
'The [Supreme Court] has a route available to it if it wants to distinguish the Fed,' former Fed Gov. Dan Tarullo, told The New York Times.
Despite the turnabout in his comments, Trump reiterated some criticism of Powell on Tuesday.
'I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates … and would like to see our chairman be early or on time, as opposed to late,' Trump said. 'If he doesn't, is it the end? No. It's not.'
Markets rebounded in the wake of the Tuesday comments.
Futures tracking the S&P 500 increased 2.5%, while those for the Nasdaq index jumped 2.7% on Wednesday.
'Clearly other folks have talked to [Trump] and explained that [firing Powell] would have caused huge volatility,' Dec Mullarkey, managing director at fund manager SLC Management, told the Financial Times.
Mullarkey credited Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whom he said 'recognizes that the integrity of markets has to be maintained.'
'This shows there are some guardrails around this president,' Mullarkey said.
Mark Spindel, an investment manager who co-wrote a history of Fed independence, added Trump 'got the hint.'
'Firing Jay would be a catastrophic own goal,' Spindel told The Wall Street Journal.
David Wilcox, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, stressed the importance of keeping the Fed's independence.
'This is an existentially threatening moment for the institution,' Wilcox told The New York Times. 'We may be on the cusp of throwing away an asset that has taken decades to accumulate.'