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- Trump: Fed's Powell 'should resign immediately'</p>
<p>Jennifer SchonbergerJuly 3, 2025 at 8:35 PM</p>
<p>President Trump said Jerome Powell "should resign immediately" in a Truth Social post Wednesday night, increasing a White House pressure campaign on the Federal Reserve chairman that has been intensifying this week.</p>
<p>Trump started the week by publicly criticizing the Fed and Powell for not lowering rates. He posted a note he sent to Powell telling the Fed chair, "Jerome—You are, as usual, 'Too Late,'" and arguing that he has "cost the USA a fortune." His press secretary held up the note at the White House on Monday so reporters could see it.</p>
<p>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent then, in separate TV interviews, compared the Fed to an old person who is afraid of falling after having stumbled once and said, "I guess this tariff derangement syndrome happens even over at the Fed," referring to concerns Powell and other Fed officials have voiced about inflation from Trump's tariffs.</p>
<p>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters at the US Capitol on June 27. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo) (Reuters / Reuters)</p>
<p>When Trump used Truth Social Wednesday night to urge Powell's resignation, referring to him again with the nickname "Too Late," he linked to a news story that detailed calls made by yet another member of his administration, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, for Congress to investigate Powell over statements made to Senate lawmakers about renovations to the Fed's headquarters.</p>
<p>Pulte has also called on Powell to resign.</p>
<p>"I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed 'for cause,'" Pulte said Wednesday in a post on X.</p>
<p>Read more: How much control does the president have over the Fed and interest rates?</p>
<p>Bill Pulte, left, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as he testified during his confirmation hearing in February. (Reuters/Annabelle Gordon) (REUTERS / Reuters)</p>
<p>When Powell testified before Senate lawmakers last month, Republican senators asked him about media reports that described the expenses and features of the Fed renovation project in Washington, D.C. Powell said the reports were "misleading and inaccurate in many, many respects."</p>
<p>Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis said in a statement to Yahoo Finance, "This is the Federal Reserve, not a modern-day Palace of Versailles, and it's clear his inability to set aside his own biases in favor of sound policies proves it's time for new leadership at the Fed," echoing a statement she also posted on X.</p>
<p>"I am happy President Trump is considering new leadership at the Fed."</p>
<p>White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday held up a message from President Trump to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images) (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS via Getty Images)</p>
<p>There is now a short list of people who could succeed Powell as the next Federal Reserve chair when his term expires next May, according to people close to the administration.</p>
<p>They include former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former World Bank president David Malpass, and current Fed governor Christopher Waller.</p>
<p>Trump told reporters Tuesday, "I have two or three top choices," roughly a week after saying, "I know within three or four people who I'm going to pick."</p>
<p>Read more: How jobs, inflation, and the Fed are all related</p>
<p>One option being contemplated by the administration, Bessent said this week, is that Trump appoints a new person to the Fed's board of governors to fill a new 14-year seat that opens up with the scheduled departure of Fed governor Adriana Kugler on Jan. 31, and "that person will go on to be chair when Powell leaves in May."</p>
<p>"Or we could appoint the new chair in May. Unfortunately, that's just a two-year seat," he added in an interview with Bloomberg.</p>
<p>That second scenario implies that Powell would also step down from the Fed's board of governors. His term as a member of the board of governors does not expire until 2028. Powell has not said whether he intends to remain as a member of the board of governors through the end of his term.</p>
<p>Bessent raised that same scenario in an interview on Thursday with Fox. "We get to hopefully fill two seats next year," he said.</p>
<p>Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell checks his watch during a Federal Reserve Board open meeting on June 25. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) (SAUL LOEB via Getty Images)</p>
<p>Powell has said that his removal from the job before his term ends next May is not permitted by law and that he intends to serve out the full term as chair.</p>
<p>This week, he declined again to say if he would serve out his term as a Fed governor until 2028, telling a moderator of a monetary policy panel in Portugal, "I have nothing for you on that today."</p>
<p>Trump has delivered mixed messages about whether he would try to remove Powell before his term ends, saying in an April 17 post, "Powell's termination cannot come fast enough!" before saying April 22 that he had "no intention of firing him."</p>
<p>When asked Tuesday if Trump's attacks made it more difficult for Powell to do his job, the Fed chairman said, "I'm very focused on just doing my job."</p>
<p>He added that "the things that matter are using our tools to achieve the goals that Congress has given us — maximum employment, price stability, financial stability — and that's what we focus on 100%."</p>
<p>Powell's response was met with applause from other participants on the panel and the audience in the room.</p>
<p>He also said on Tuesday, "I want to hand over to my successor an economy in good shape. That's what keeps me awake at night."</p>
<p>Powell didn't rule out an interest rate reduction at the Fed's next meeting on July 28-29, but he noted the central bank would have cut rates by now if not for the tariffs introduced by the Trump administration.</p>
<p>"We went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs, and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs," he said.</p>
<p>The Fed lowered rates by a full percentage point in 2024 but has held rates steady so far in 2025 as it waits to see if inflation will pick up this summer due to the tariffs.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't take any meeting off the table or put it directly on the table," Powell said when asked about the possibility of a cut in July. "It's going to depend on how the data evolved."</p>
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