Trump threatens to fire Powell, defends Fed criminal probe

President Trump threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell from the central bank board if he does not step down at the end of his term leading the bank.

In a Wednesday interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo, the president said he would oust Powell if he does not leave by the May 15 end of his four-year tenure as the board’s chair.

“Then I’ll have to fire him,” Trump told Bartiromo when asked about Powell’s plan to stay on the Fed board.

Trump also defended the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) ongoing criminal probe of the Fed and Powell’s handling of renovations, which the Fed chair said will force him to stay on at the bank until the investigation is resolved.

“Whether it’s incompetence, corruption or both, I think you have to find out,” he said.

Powell’s separate term as a member of the Fed board does not lapse until 2028. Powell said in March he would stay on the Fed board at least until the end of the DOJ probe into the bank, and that he will serve as acting Fed chair from the end of his term until the Senate confirms his successor.

Powell briefly served as acting Fed chair during the Biden administration before he was renominated and confirmed for a second term in 2022.

Former Fed board member Kevin Warsh, whom Trump nominated to replace Powell, is expected to face the Senate Banking Committee for a confirmation hearing next week. While Warsh is likely to receive near-unanimous support from Republican senators, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has vowed to hold up his confirmation until the end of the DOJ probe into the Fed.

The DOJ in December sent subpoenas to the Fed and Powell as part of an investigation into renovations at the bank’s Washington headquarters. The Justice Department is also probing whether Powell lied to Congress while testifying about the matter last year before the Senate Banking Committee.

Last month, a federal judge quashed the subpoenas of Powell and the Fed, saying they were improperly issued.

Powell has dismissed the investigation as a ploy to pressure or punish the Fed for refusing to cut interest rates in line with Trump’s wishes. A federal judge blocked the DOJ’s subpoenas in an order last month, though the administration has vowed to move ahead.

Several Republican senators, including Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.), said they do not believe Powell’s handling of the renovations and testimony before the Banking panel amounted to crimes.