Donald Trump Has Called for Jerome Powell to Be Fired, but Can He Fire Him?

The independence of the Federal Reserve is supposed to be core to the institution, and that's been the case since it was created. The Fed needs that independence so it can make economic decisions that might be politically unpopular, such as raising or lowering interest rates.

Recently, President Trump railed against Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not raising interest rates, a decision that was impacted in part by the economic uncertainty caused by Trump's tariff policies. Now, many want to know whether Trump can actually fire Powell.

Although the president can nominate the Fed Chair (and Trump actually nominated Powell during his first term), chairs of the Federal Reserve cannot be removed from their posts except with cause. Basically, then, Trump would need a reason he could justify to courts to remove Powell, and that reason cannot be that Powell is not doing exactly what Trump wants to interest rates.

There is a Supreme Court case, though, Trump v. Wilcox, that is designed to test how much power Trump has to fire a variety of officials inside the executive branch, per Market Watch. For now, though, that ruling seems unlikely to apply to the Fed, although that could certainly change if the Supreme Court takes a broad view of the president's ability to fire various members of the executive branch.

For now, though, the answer is no, Trump cannot fire Powell, even though he's made it quite clear that he wants to.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that Powell was "always TOO LATE AND WRONG" following his announcement that he would not be lowering interest rates because he was determined to fight inflation. Trump added that Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough!"

Although he has faced frequent criticism from the president, who wants interest rates lowered because he believes that will help the economy, Powell has said that he is planning to serve out the remainder of his term at the Fed, which would end next May. Although he has often refused to antagonize the president directly, Powell did speak out about Trump's tariffs in early April, suggesting that they might lead to prolonged inflation.

"Tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation," Powell told the Economic Club of Chicago, as he explained that the tariffs were higher than many had anticipated. "The inflationary effects could also be more persistent."

It seems Powell's decision not to lower interest rates is in part connected to that anticipated rise in inflation.

When Powell's term comes to an end, it seems possible that Trump could install someone who would be more willing to listen to his demands, although that nomination would have to be confirmed by the Senate. Still, depending on who Trump chooses, it seems very possible that all he'll need to do is wait Powell out before he can appoint someone he likes better.