Trump Threatens To Fire Powell If He Stays On Fed Board

President Donald Trump on Wednesday ratcheted up his conflict with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying he will fire the central bank chief if he doesn’t step down from his job “on time.”

Trump, speaking to Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business, suggested that his administration will not drop its criminal probe into the renovations of the Fed’s headquarters, despite the investigation being a roadblock to Senate confirmation of his nominee to succeed Powell, Kevin Warsh.

“Whether it’s incompetence, corruption, or both, I think you have to find out,” the president said of the ballooning costs of the construction project.

Bartiromo noted that the Justice Department investigation may hold up the very result Trump is seeking — Powell’s departure. Powell has said he won’t step down from the central bank’s board until the investigation is concluded and that he would stay on as acting chair if necessary until Warsh is confirmed.

“Well then, I’ll have to fire him, OK? If he’s not leaving on time,” Trump responded. “I’ve held back firing him. I’ve wanted to fire him, but I hate to be controversial.”

Powell’s term as Fed chair ends next month, though his term on the central bank’s board doesn’t end until 2028. In the meantime, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), like Powell, has raised concerns that the Justice Department’s probe is a pretense to pressure the Fed to lower interest rates, a view shared by a federal judge, who blocked DOJ subpoenas.

The Justice Department has been looking into Powell’s statements to Congress about the renovations, though several Senate Republicans, including Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.), have said they do not think that the Fed chair committed a crime in his testimony.

Warsh's hearing before the Banking Committee is scheduled for April 21.