As questions swirl over who will replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell when his term ends in May, Jamie Dimon is taking his name off the list of potential candidates.
“Chairman of the Fed, I’d put in the absolutely, positively no chance, no way, no how, for any reason,” the JPMorgan CEO said when asked at a Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday if he’d ever consider the role. “I would so much more prefer this job than that job. That’s a hard job, but I don’t want to do that job,” he later added.
“Hard job” may be an understatement given unprecedented pressures on the Fed since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Last Friday, the Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and Powell’s testimony on the renovation of Fed office buildings. The probe follows a year of increased pressure on the central bank from the Trump administration to lower interest rates.
In August, the president attempted to unseat Fed governor Lisa Cook over alleged mortgage fraud, the first time a president has fired a sitting governor in the central bank’s 112-year history. A federal court ruled that Cook could keep her seat while she fights the firing, but Cook’s future remains uncertain as the Supreme Court hears the Trump administration’s appeal later this month.
In addition, the Fed faces the tricky task of trying to prop up the labor market by lowering interest rates without reigniting inflation.
Dimon said he would consider being Treasury secretary if asked, but he’s hesitant to take a job working under someone else.
“I would take the call, consider it, and think about why and what they want. But what they want and how they want to operate would be important to me,” Dimon said. “But I’ve been my own boss for pretty much 25 years, and I like it that way.”
This is not the first time Dimon’s name has been mentioned as a potential cabinet secretary. In 2024, then President-elect Trump announced that Dimon would not be in his administration after speculation that he would be nominated for Treasury secretary. Dimon agreed that he wouldn’t be the best fit, saying “I’m not about ready to start” having a boss again.
Earlier this week, it seemed that Dimon and Trump were at odds after Dimon warned chipping away at the central bank’s independence “is not a good idea.”
Trump later called Dimon out, saying “Jamie Dimon probably wants higher rates. Maybe he makes more money that way.”
On Thursday, Dimon reiterated his opposition to interfering with the Fed’s independence because “it will drive rates higher not lower,” but said he and Trump were on the same page.
“Everyone I know, including the president of the United States, says we need an independent Fed board,” Dimon said. “Most people I know, including the president of the United States, speak up about their opinion, which they’re free to do.”
Dimon and other CEOs such as Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan and Citigroup’s Jane Fraser did just that this week after Trump called for a one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates. Dimon said that would limit access to credit and adversely affect people who lower credit credits.
“If it happened the way it was described, it would be dramatic,” Dimon said, speaking to analysts during the earnings call on Tuesday. “It would be dramatic on subprime.”
