President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his demand that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell resign, suggesting that he would support a congressional investigation into Powell\u2019s handling of Fed headquarters renovations. Speaking during a Cabinet meeting in Washington, Trump reiterated comments he made last week on Truth Social, declaring, \u201cHe should resign immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked whether Republican lawmakers should investigate Powell over alleged misleading testimony to Congress about building renovation expenses, Trump responded, \u201cIt\u2019s OK with me; I think he is terrible.\u201d The controversy stems from Powell\u2019s Senate testimony in which he dismissed media reports on the cost and features of the renovations as \u201cmisleading and inaccurate in many, many respects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump once again criticized Powell for not lowering interest rates, blaming him for maintaining a cautious stance despite rising tariff risks. \u201cI want someone who will lower rates,\u201d he said, accusing Powell of trying to aid Democrats with aggressive rate cuts before last year\u2019s election. The president made no mention of Powell\u2019s broader economic guidance or inflation concerns, instead focusing on political implications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump also made a pointed comment toward Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during the meeting, saying, \u201cI like you better,\u201d in a remark that signals his growing preference for Bessent as a possible Powell successor. Bessent is now reportedly among Trump\u2019s top choices to take over the Fed when Powell\u2019s term ends in May 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to administration insiders, other names under consideration for the role include Kevin Warsh, Kevin Hassett, David Malpass, and current Fed governor Christopher Waller. Trump said last week he has \u201ctwo or three top choices\u201d and hinted that he may nominate someone to fill a 14-year seat on the Fed board in January, potentially grooming them for the chairmanship once Powell steps down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Powell\u2019s term as chair ends in May, but he remains a member of the board of governors until 2028. It remains unclear whether he will resign from the board entirely if not reappointed as chair. Bessent acknowledged two possible paths: appointing a new governor in January to take over as chair in May, or naming a new chair directly when Powell’s term expires \u2014 although that would only be a two-year term under current rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The escalating rhetoric underscores the political tension surrounding the central bank\u2019s independence and policy direction as Trump seeks greater influence over monetary decisions heading into the 2026 election cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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President open to congressional probe into Fed chair’s actions President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his demand that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell resign, suggesting that he would support a congressional investigation into Powell\u2019s handling of Fed headquarters renovations. Speaking during a Cabinet meeting in Washington, Trump reiterated comments he made last week on Truth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":12312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2012,92,2008,2009,289,2011,276,25,2010,1078],"class_list":{"0":"post-12311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finance","8":"tag-congressional-investigation","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-fed-board","11":"tag-fed-chair-resignation","12":"tag-federal-reserve","13":"tag-inflation-policy","14":"tag-interest-rates","15":"tag-jerome-powell","16":"tag-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent","17":"tag-u-s-tariffs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12313,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12311\/revisions\/12313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}