President Donald Trump ratcheded up his threats on Wednesday morning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and said that he would not drop the Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Powell.
“Then I’ll have to fire him,” Trump said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business. “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.”
Powell’s tenure ends on May 15, but he could stay in the role on a temporary basis until Trump’s nominee, Kevin M. Warsh, is confirmed by the Senate. On Tuesday, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott said that he plans to hold Warsh’s committee confirmation hearing next Tuesday.
But the nomination has been held up in the upper chamber, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has vowed to block the nominee from advancing out of committee until the investigation into Powell is dropped.
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Powell announced in January that subpoenas had been served by the Department of Justice to the central bank, with Powell claiming that the investigation was based on the bank not following the president’s “preferences” when it came to setting interest rates.
“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Powell said.
The Justice Department has said it is investigating the Federal Reserve over renovations to the banks’ headquarters. In March, a federal judge effectively halted the investigation, saying that it was an effort to intimidate the bank into lowering interest rates.
On Tuesday, prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office visited the central bank’s headquarters unannounced in an effort to access the site but were turned away.
Trump has repeatedly demanded lower interest rates and attacked top officials at the Federal Reserve over the matter. The bank lowered interest rates three times last year.
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