Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in an interview aired Sunday night that he doesn’t believe President Trump has the authority to fire him.
When asked during an interview with “60 Minutes” whether Trump could fire the Fed chief, Powell responded “no.”
Powell, a Republican, has led the Fed since January 2018 after Trump appointed him to lead the central bank in late 2017. Trump has frequently criticized Powell and the Fed for raising interest rates four times last year and reportedly considered trying to fire the chairman. {mosads}
Powell was confirmed by the Senate in January to a four-year term as chairman of the Fed board. He was first appointed to the Fed by former President Obama and confirmed as a governor of the central bank in 2012.
The president can appoint members of the Federal Reserve board, but legal experts say it’s unlikely that Powell, the head of an independent agency created by Congress, can be fired for anything other than severe misconduct.
“The law is clear that I have a four-year term, and I fully intend to serve it,” Powell said, citing the Fed’s independence from the White House.
“We are directed to take, to execute policy, in a strictly nonpolitical way, serving all Americans, and that’s what we do,” Powell said.
“Our decisions on rates can’t be reversed by any other part of government. Our accountability runs through the elected representatives and the oversight committees in Congress.”
The Supreme Court ruled in 1935 that the Senate-confirmed chiefs of certain independent agencies can only be fired “for cause,” which the court defined as “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” Legal analysts say that policy differences would not likely meet that standard.
While Trump blasted Powell as recently as two weeks ago for raising interest rates, the Fed appears unlikely to do so for at least the next couple of months. Powell told “60 Minutes” that the Fed board doesn’t “feel any hurry to change our interest rate policy,” citing the persistent strength of the U.S. economy despite a slowdown in Europe and China.
“We see the economy as in a good place,” Powell said. “We think that the outlook is a favorable one. Inflation is muted and our policy rate we think is in an appropriate place. So what we’ve said is that we would be patient.”