President Donald Trump seems to have had enough of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Trump said he will fire Powell if he does not step aside when his term at the helm of the central bank expires next month.
“Then I’ll have to fire him,” Trump told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo Wednesday in response to a question about Powell staying on at the Fed.
As per CNN, the timing of Powell’s departure from the Fed has been complicated by the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into the Fed chair that accuses Powell of lying to Congress in testimony last year about the Fed’s $2.5 billion-dollar renovation of its Washington, D.C., headquarters.
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“Here’s a man who took this little, tiny building and a couple of other little, tiny complex, and he’s spending more than $3 billion. I want to know who the contractor is, because that contractor is making billions of dollars, perhaps.”
“It is probably corrupt, but what it really is is incompetent, and we have to show the incompetence of that,” Trump said.
As per CNN, Trump in January nominated former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to replace Powell, whose term leading the central bank expires on May 15, but North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, a key member of the committee that approves Fed nominees, reiterated this week that he will not vote to confirm Warsh until the Powell probe has concluded.
The Chair of the Federal Reserve is appointed through a formal, multi-step process designed to insulate the central bank from day-to-day political pressure. The Federal Reserve Chair is nominated by the President of the United States and must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. This includes review by the Senate Banking Committee, followed by a full Senate vote. The Chair serves a four-year term, but also remains a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, which has staggered 14-year terms for governors to ensure continuity and independence.
When a term nears expiration, the President may nominate either a replacement or reappoint the incumbent. Even after the chair’s term ends, the individual may continue serving as a governor unless their separate board term has also expired. In practice, this means continuity is possible even during leadership transitions.
The Federal Reserve is legally structured to be independent from the executive branch, meaning the President cannot directly remove the Chair at will. Removal is only permissible “for cause,” a high legal threshold typically involving misconduct or incapacity, not policy disagreement.
Until a new chair is confirmed and sworn in, the outgoing chair may remain in a temporary or “pro tempore” capacity.
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The uncertainty surrounding potential succession and Senate confirmation processes underscores how central bank leadership transitions are not immediate or unilateral decisions. They require coordination between the executive branch, the Senate, and the institutional rules governing the Federal Reserve itself. Even when a president nominates a preferred successor, confirmation delays or political resistance can extend the tenure of an incumbent chair beyond expectations.
As per CNN, with just one month to go until Powell’s time as chair is set to expire, Warsh has yet to be confirmed by the Senate and the full chamber. That leaves the potential for Powell to remain in place as chair “pro tempore,” per Fed regulations.