President Donald Trump has renewed his threat to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying that he will remove Powell if he refuses to relinquish his board seat next month.
Powell’s term as chair expires on May 15, but he has the option to remain on the Fed’s Board of Governors until 2028. Although outgoing chairs typically resign from the board as well, Powell has stated that he will remain at least until the Justice Department concludes a criminal probe that he has slammed as unfounded.
“Then I’ll have to fire him,” the president said during an interview on Fox Business on Wednesday. “If he’s not leaving on time—I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial. I want to be uncontroversial.”
The Fed declined to comment on Trump’s remark. Powell has previously stated flatly that Trump does not have the legal ability to fire him without cause.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to fire Powell, whom Trump himself appointed in 2017 during his first term. The president also attempted to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, a Biden appointee, although that move remains in limbo as the Supreme Court deliberates whether it was legally justified.
Since starting his second term, Trump has vented fury at Powell and the Fed for resisting his demands for dramatically lower interest rates, which would juice the economy and reduce government borrowing costs.
In January, Powell revealed he was the subject of a Justice Department criminal probe over his Senate testimony about recent renovations to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, DC.
Powell slammed the DOJ probe as an “unprecedented action” based on mere pretexts, saying the investigation is a continuation of Trump’s unrelenting pressure campaign for lower interest rates.
A federal judge agreed. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a scathing ruling blocking grand jury subpoenas in the matter, saying that “a mountain of evidence” indicates the probe is a tactic to force Powell to vote for lower rates.
But rather than backing down and winding up the investigation, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro slammed the ruling as “outrageous” and vowed to appeal.
Consequently, Powell vowed that he would not leave the Fed’s Board of Governors until the probe is publicly concluded, a move designed to ensure he does not leave under a cloud.
Trump insists that the investigation must continue.
“What they’ve done to that so it is probably corrupt, but what it really is is incompetent, and we have to show the incompetence of that,” he said on Wednesday.
Although Fed chairs normally resign from the board when their term ends, Powell has the legal option to remain on the board as a normal voting member until 2028.
Meanwhile, Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh to take over as Fed chair when Powell’s term expires on May 15. This week, financial disclosures revealed that Warsh would be the richest Fed chair in history by far.
Warsh faces a tough confirmation process in the Senate, and Powell would remain interim Fed chair until a new chair is confirmed if the role remains unfilled by May 15.
In response to a request for comment, the White House referred to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent‘s comments on Wednesday that he was “confident” Warsh would survive his confirmation hearing next week.
“I am very optimistic that Kevin Warsh will be the chair of the Fed on time,” Bessent told reporters at the White House.