United States President Donald Trump has once more called on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to resign after he allegedly gave false testimony to Congress.
Over the last few months, the two have been at odds over the reduction of interest rates, and Powell’s latest appearance before Congress has only escalated things. In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump said, “Too Late,” should resign immediately!!! Fed Chair Should Be Investigated by Congress, FHFA Head Says.”
Donald Trump demands Powell’s resignation
In a post on blogging platform X on Wednesday, Bill Plute, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, accused Powell of “political bias” and “deceptive testimony” on the renovations at the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, DC. Plute also urged Congress to investigate him, with Donald Trump demanding that the Fed Chair step down.
Last month, Trump said he would like to replace Powell with someone interested in lowering interest rates. He told reporters, “I’m going to put somebody that wants to cut rates. There are a lot of them out there.” Even then, he asked the Fed chair to resign and described him as “a stubborn mule and a stupid person” for disapproving of rate cuts.
Lower interest rates tend to boost economic growth. Although they tend to lead to a rise in inflation, something central banks try to avoid. Some experts have also warned that inflation is bound to rise with Trump’s tariffs. On Tuesday, Powell, at the European Central Bank Forum in Portugal, said the Fed is holding off on rate cuts while it evaluates the impact of Trump’s tariffs.
He also claimed they were taking their time to examine the situation. By law, the president can only dismiss the Fed chair “for cause,” broadly seen as applying to misconduct rather than disagreements over monetary policy. The Supreme Court even recently ruled against Trump’s push to fire officials at independent federal agencies, a move most believe the President advocated to target Powell.
Despite the ruling, Trump still plans to replace Powell, having said he has about two to three choices who could take over from him. He recently wrote a letter asking Powell again to lower the benchmark interest rate—currently at 4.25% to 4.5%—by “a lot.”
According to media reports, the Fed’s headquarters project has incurred escalating costs and included several luxury features. In the Senate hearing last week, however, Powell pushed back on those claims, describing the reports as “misleading and inaccurate in many, many respects.”