Jerome Powell denounces threat of prosecution over Fed policy
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the threat of criminal charges over Congressional testimony is a sham.
President Donald Trump has said his administration has no intention of dropping the Justice Department’s investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and renewed his threat to fire him if he remains in office beyond mid-May.
President Trump has nominated former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh for the post, but Powell has said that if Warsh is not confirmed by the end of his term on May 15, he will continue to serve on an interim basis.
“If that happens, I would have to fire him,” President Trump told Fox Business on April 15, in response to a question about the possibility of Powell remaining in office. “If he didn’t come home on time, I was discouraged from firing him. I wanted to fire him. But I don’t like being controversial. I like to be uncontroversial.”
President Trump nominated Warsh to the post, but Warsh has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. Following the paperwork delays, Warsh has since filed the required financial disclosures and is scheduled for a Senate confirmation hearing next week. However, his confirmation is not guaranteed. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) has vowed to hold off on his nomination to the Fed until the Justice Department concludes its investigation into Mr. Powell related to the budget for a major renovation project at the central bank’s headquarters.
Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan said in January that the criminal investigation was an “unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine central bank independence.” Powell himself condemned this in a rare video statement.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told Fox Business on April 14 that he was confident the Justice Department would “close” its investigation into Powell and that Warsh would assume the role “within the next few weeks.”
But President Trump told FOX Business that his administration has no intention of halting the investigation.
“I think we need to figure out whether it’s incompetence or corruption or both,” Trump added.
Even if Warsh is confirmed by May 15, Powell has said he plans to speak before the Fed’s board, and his term won’t end until January 2028 until the Justice Department investigation is “truly concluded.”
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
Contact Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her at X @rachelbarber_
