Trump says Powell should ‘resign immediately’ if he misled Congress

“CUT INTEREST RATES JEROME — NOW IS THE TIME!” Trump wrote.

A Fed spokesperson declined to comment after Trump’s Cabinet meeting remarks.

Trump has repeatedly assailed Powell over the bank’s decisions to hold rates steady this year, saying last month that he would choose a successor who will cut borrowing costs. Powell’s term as chair expires in May 2026.

That criticism has been joined by several administration officials, including Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Pulte has called for Congress to investigate Powell, alleging, without evidence, that the chair’s recent testimony to lawmakers about ongoing renovations at the bank’s headquarters was “deceptive.”

Pulte has also called for Powell’s resignation, which Trump amplified on social media. Pulte — the grandson of William J. Pulte, the founder of homebuilder PulteGroup — has been sharply critical of the Fed, arguing that policymakers are hurting housing affordability by not lowering interest rates. Officials have pointed to uncertainty in the outlook caused by Trump’s tariffs and other economic policies for their on-hold stance.

Some media reports have asserted the Fed’s renovation of its headquarters has seen swelling costs and includes several extravagant features. Fed budget documents for 2023 attributed rising renovation costs to “significant increases in raw materials costs which far exceed standard cost escalations, higher labor costs and changes in construction schedule expectations.”

While acknowledging cost overruns before lawmakers, Powell disputed portions of the media reports about the project, calling them “flatly misleading.”

“There’s no VIP dining room, there’s no new marble,” Powell said in his testimony on June 25. “There are no special elevators — there’s just, there are old elevators that have been there — there are no new water features, there’s no beehives and there’s no roof terrace gardens.”

In a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott dated July 3, Powell added that Fed officials “take seriously the responsibility to be good stewards of public resources and welcome the opportunity for further engagement on this matter.”

The chair also said the Fed intends to hold a briefing with Scott’s staff “to discuss the project in further detail.”

Powell’s Future

Pulte hasn’t been the only administration official to publicly criticize Powell in recent days, despite the longstanding tradition — which has repeatedly fallen by the wayside during the Trump years — of officials seeking to avoid comment on interest rate decisions.

Trade czar Peter Navarro, in an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday, suggested other governors should intervene if Powell is disinclined to lower rates at the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

“The problem is we’ve got a partisan Fed with Jay Powell, and what I’m calling for on July 29th and 30th, if Powell can’t get religion on Trumponomics, it’s the Board of Governors to rein him in,” Navarro said. “I don’t know why, I mean, you’ve got some intelligent people on that board, why are they letting Jay Powell lead them around by the nose?”

Trump has openly mused at times about dismissing the Fed chair, often sending conflicting signals about Powell’s future. He has written that “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” before saying that he has “no intention of firing him.”

In June, Trump said he had three to four candidates in mind to replace Powell once his term as chair is up and said that he would choose a successor who would want to cut interest rates — a move that would strike at the heart of the central bank’s independence.

Trump has belittled Powell over the bank’s decision making, mocking him as a “stubborn mule and a stupid person” for not backing rate cuts.

The US central bank left rates unchanged in June in a range of 4.25%-4.5%, where they’ve been since December. Powell told lawmakers last month that the Fed would probably be cutting rates by now, based on declining inflation, if not for the uncertain outlook for future prices because of tariffs. Powell has cautioned that there is no need to rush into any rate changes.