Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday that he will not resign even if President-elect Donald Trump asks him to resign.
Asked by reporters if he would resign as requested by President Trump, Powell simply answered, “No.”
“The law doesn't allow it,” Powell said at a press conference after the Fed cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, two days after former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Powell in 2017, but he repeatedly criticized the chairman and the central bank for not loosening monetary policy fast enough during his administration.
He called Mr. Powell and his Fed colleagues “crazy” for not lowering interest rates while he was president.
In 2020, President Trump criticized the central bank, claiming it was lagging behind its global peers in economic recovery after the pandemic.
“I have the right to fire him,” Trump said of Powell, who was reappointed by President Joe Biden for a term that runs through 2026.
President Trump has promised that interest rates will be lowered if he wins a second term in the White House and has argued that the president should have a say in bank decisions.
“I don't think I should be allowed to dictate, but I do think I have the right to comment on whether interest rates should go up or go down,” Trump told Bloomberg on October 15.
Chairman Powell said Thursday that President Trump's victory will not immediately affect the Fed's policies aimed at achieving the Fed's dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability.
“In the short term, the election will have no impact on policy decisions,” Powell said.
Powell acknowledged that the incoming administration's policies could influence the Fed's approach to dual mandates, but said it was too early to tell.
“It's still early days,” Powell said. “We don't know what the policy is, and even if we know what it is, we don't know when it will be implemented.”
