President Donald Trump hasn’t been shy voicing his frustrations with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
While Trump nominated Powell for the position in 2017, the president has recently accused the Fed leader of “playing politics,” being “always TOO LATE AND WRONG,” and playing into Europe’s hands by not lowering interest rates. Trump has publicly suggested that he could fire Powell, though Powell has said that isn’t legal.
Here’s everything to know about Powell’s background, financial stances, and the legal questions around whether Trump can fire him.
Jerome Powell’s education and career history
Powell, 72, has been a member of the Fed’s board of governors since 2012, when President Barack Obama nominated him to fill an unexpired term. He was reappointed in 2014 to complete a 14-year term ending in 2028.
He was nominated to his first four-year term as the Fed’s chair in 2018 by Trump, and to his second term by Biden in 2022. Trump strayed from the norm when he nominated Powell for the position, overlooking Janet Yellen, the current chairwoman at the time, for a second term.
Powell said in 2023 that his salary as Fed chair is around $190,000 a year.
Before joining the Fed, Powell was a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, DC, a think-tank that promotes collaborative work between Democrats and Republicans.
He also spent eight years at The Carlyle Group, a private-equity firm with more than $200 billion in assets under managements.
The Washington, DC, native previously worked as Assistant Secretary and Under Secretary of the Treasury Department under President George H.W. Bush and as a lawyer in New York City.
Powell, who is married with three children, has an BA in politics from Princeton University and a law degree from Georgetown University.
Powell vs. Trump
During both of Trump’s terms in office, Powell has had to grapple with concerns of a slowing global economy and political pressure from the president to cut interest rates. Trump’s latest tariff plans have added to the economic uncertainty and public fears of an impending recession.
In a recent speech at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell said that tariffs under the Trump administration could create a “challenging scenario” for the economy and are likely to at least temporarily raise inflation.
He also warned that if tariffs drive up consumer prices and slow down overall economic growth, it could put the Fed’s dual mandate — low unemployment and price stability — at risk.
“Without price stability, we cannot achieve the long periods of strong labor market conditions that benefit all Americans,” Powell said in his speech.
Powell’s speech rattled investor confidence and deepened an ongoing stock sell-off.
Can Trump fire Powell?
A day after Powell’s speech, Trump attacked the Fed chair on Truth Social and suggested to reporters in the Oval Office that he has the authority to remove Powell before his term is up — a position Trump also held during his first term in office.
“If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me,” Trump said.
White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett told reporters outside the White House the following day that the president and his team “will continue to study” if there’s a way to fire Powell.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the president has for months been privately talking about firing Powell, and has discussed replacing him with Kevin Warsh.
Powell, however, said in November after Trump was elected that firing the Fed Chair is against the law, and that he wouldn’t resign if Trump asked him.
He also said in his speech at the Economic Club that the Fed’s “independence is a matter of law” and that “Congress has in our statute that we’re not removable except for cause.” And although Congress can change that law, Powell said he doesn’t think it’s likely.
The law stipulates that a president can only fire a Fed official if there’s cause for removal, and that doesn’t include policy disagreements.
Though the central bank is supposed to operate independently of the White House, Trump has moved to expand his presidential power over independent agencies.
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