Fed Signals Law Is on Its Side If Trump Tries to Remove Powell
- Central bank appears to have confidence to ‘plant a flag’
- Law says Fed chairman must be removed for cause, not rates
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The world’s most powerful central bank is making clear it thinks the law is on its side if President Donald Trump tries to remove Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman.
White House lawyers have equipped Trump with a possible blueprint for demoting Powell by stripping him of his chairmanship and leaving him as only a governor, according to people familiar with the matter. But the Fed, which faces frequent attacks from Trump for not being more accommodating to his economic agenda, has hinted for the second time that it won’t back down easily.