Trump Says He’ll Oust Fed Chair if He Doesn’t Step Down, Raising Stakes in Ongoing Feud

With input from the New York Times, Politico, NPR, Axios, CNBC, the Hill, and the Washington Post.

Donald Trump is turning up the heat on Jerome Powell – again.

In a Fox Business interview, Trump said outright he’s prepared to fire Powell if he doesn’t walk away when his term as Fed chair expires next month.

“He’s doing a bad job,” Trump said, repeating his long-running complaint that interest rates should be lower.

Whether he can actually do that is another question. The law doesn’t make it easy to remove a Fed chair without cause, and the issue is already tangled up in the courts. The Supreme Court of the United States is currently weighing a separate case involving Trump’s attempt to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook – a fight that could shape how much power the White House really has over the central bank.

Powell isn’t budging, at least not yet. He’s said he’ll stay in the role until a successor is confirmed, and possibly even remain on the Fed’s board through 2028. He’s also made it clear he won’t step aside while a Justice Department investigation into the Fed is still hanging over him.

That probe – focused on cost overruns in a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed’s headquarters – has become a flashpoint. Trump says it’s about accountability. Powell says it’s about pressure.

A federal judge already weighed in. James Boasberg tossed out subpoenas tied to the investigation, saying there was “no evidence” Powell committed a crime and suggesting the probe was meant to push the Fed on interest rates or force him out.

Even so, prosecutors haven’t backed off. In a move that raised eyebrows across Washington, officials tied to the investigation showed up unannounced at the Fed’s construction site this week, asking for access. They were turned away.

All of this is starting to gum up Trump’s next move: installing his pick to replace Powell.

His nominee, Kevin Warsh, is now stuck in political limbo. Senator Thom Tillis has said he won’t support advancing Warsh’s nomination until the investigation is wrapped up, effectively blocking progress in the Senate Banking Committee.

Trump, for his part, isn’t backing down. Asked whether he’d call off the probe to smooth things over, he said no.

“Don’t you think we have to find out what happened?” he said.

That leaves Washington in a messy standoff. The White House wants a new Fed chair in place soon. Key senators want the investigation resolved first. And Powell, caught in the middle, is signaling he’s not going anywhere until the dust settles.

Meanwhile, the broader fight – over interest rates, inflation, and the Fed’s independence – is only getting louder.