President Donald Trump is considering whether he has the authority to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, his chief economic adviser confirmed Friday, just a day after Trump publicly criticized Powell for not cutting interest rates aggressively enough.
“The president and his team will continue to study that,” said Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, when asked by a reporter if ousting Powell was a possibility.
Hassett further suggested that Powell’s leadership at the Fed — despite having been appointed by Trump during his first term — had been politically motivated in ways that benefited Democrats.
“This Fed immediately began raising rates after President Trump was elected, arguing that supply-side tax cuts would trigger inflation,” Hassett said. “Yet they stayed silent when President Biden unleashed obvious, textbook inflationary spending — and instead of raising alarms, they cut rates right before the election.”
On Thursday, Trump had repeatedly voiced frustration with Powell and hinted that he could remove him, though he avoided directly stating whether he would take that step.
“I’m not happy with him. I’ve made that clear. And if I want him out, he’ll be gone real fast, believe me,” Trump said during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Trump again pressed Powell to lower interest rates during an Oval Office appearance on Friday, dismissing concerns about inflation.
“If we had a Fed chairman who knew what he was doing, interest rates would already be coming down,” Trump said. “He should bring them down.”
Hassett, meanwhile, emphasized that he preferred to focus on policy rather than personal disputes.
“If people think it’s unacceptable for President Trump to be frustrated with the Fed’s policy history, they’ve got some explaining to do,” Hassett said.
