Fed Chair Powell says he would not leave even if Trump asked him to

When asked by Politico correspondent Victoria Guida if he would step aside if Trump asked him to, Powell gave a one-word answer: no. He also said he doesn’t think he would be legally required to leave if Trump asked him to.

While Trump has previously said he wouldn’t fire Powell, he has said he would not nominate him again after his term ends in 2026. Still, close advisers to the newly elected president have said the Fed chair should step aside, Politico reported.

The Fed chair’s comments, made following his prepared remarks on the central bank’s Thursday rate cut decision, were a strong rebuke to Trump’s plans to hold more sway over the central bank. The Fed cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point Thursday as inflation continues to drop near the central bank’s 2% target.

Trump nominated Powell in 2018, but later turned on him. During his time in the White House, Trump and his advisers decided against trying to remove Powell, but it didn’t stop him from attacking the Fed chair’s performance during his time as president or in the run-up to this week’s election.

Trump has said that as president he should at least have an opinion on interest rates, drawing comparisons to former President Richard Nixon and his disgraced Fed Chairman Arthur Burns.

“I feel the president should have at least say in there,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago in August. “In my case, I made a lot of money, I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve, or the chairman.”

Trump economic adviser Scott Bessent has suggested that even if the president-elect can’t replace Powell before his term ends, Congress could approve a Fed chair designate who would act as a “shadow Fed chair,” Bessent told Barron’s. 

Appointing a Fed chair designate would likely curtail much of Powell’s influence during his remaining year in office, although some have said it would give the market mixed signals.

Despite experts’ claims that Trump’s policies could trigger inflation, Powell said for now the Fed’s plan remains the same and the central bank would not speculate on what the incoming Trump administration’s economic plans would be.

“In the near term, the election will have no effects on our policy decisions,” Powell said.

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