Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says he will not resign if asked by Trump

In a media briefing Thursday after announcing a reduction in interest rates, the chairman of the Federal Reserve said he would not resign if asked by President-elect Donald Trump.

Chairman Jerome Powell was asked by a reporter about the possibility of Trump asking him to resign after the stunning results of the election Tuesday.

‘Trump had accused Powell of hurting the economy by raising interest rates.’

“No,” Powell replied simply.

“Do you think that legally you’re not required to leave?” asked the reporter.

“No,” he responded.

When asked whether he believed the president had the power to force him to resign, he responded, “Not permitted under law.”

Powell was appointed to Fed chair in 2018 by Trump but was criticized by the president for what he saw as poor job performance. In 2019, Powell was similarly asked if he would step down from the position if Trump asked him to resign, and he had the same answer at that time.

Trump had accused Powell of hurting the economy by raising interest rates at the time, but Powell argued that higher rates were necessary in order to avoid inflation.

Powell had also announced a quarter of a point reduction in reserve interest rates on Thursday after the Federal Reserve had previously cut rates by half of a percent in September.

After losing the election in 2020, Trump has since said that he wants the presidency to have more of a say in setting interest rates, despite economists’ warnings that the Federal Reserve was created to be independent from the presidency to avoid political meddling in the economy.

“I don’t think I should be allowed to order it, but I think I have the right to put in comments as to whether the interest rates should go up or down,” said Trump to Bloomberg News in October.

“The independence of the Fed is something that not just economists, or investors, but citizens should place a high value on,” said economist Carl Tannenbaum to the Associated Press in August.

Powell went on to say Thursday that the election would have no effect on the decisions made at the Federal Reserve.

“In the near term, the election will have no effects on our policy decisions,” he said.

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