Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he won’t resign if Donald Trump asks him to step down

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he won’t step down if President-elect Donald Trump, who has previously criticized Powell’s performance, asks him to resign. 

Speaking at a press conference Thursday to discuss the Fed’s move today to cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, Powell added that it is not permitted under the law for presidents to fire or demote the Fed chair.

When asked if he’d step down if Trump requested it, Powell responded with a one-word answer: “No.”

Powell’s insistence that he’ll remain in his role comes after Trump aired grievances about the Fed’s decision-making during his first presidency and, more recently, on the campaign trial. Trump, who has accused Powell of being “political,” also told Bloomberg Businessweek this summer he would let the economist serve out his term, “especially if I thought he was doing the right thing.”

Yet Trump has also said he thinks the U.S. president should have more influence on Fed decisions.

“I feel the president should have at least a say in there. Yeah, I feel that strongly,” Trump said in an Aug. 8 press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “I think that, in my case, I made a lot of money, I was very successful, and I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve or the chairman.”

Fed Chair Powell’s term

Trump nominated Powell to lead the Fed in 2017, and was re-nominated by President Joe Biden in November 2021. Powell’s term as Fed chair ends May 15, 2026.

During the event on Thursday, Powell generally avoided answering media questions about the Nov. 5 election, in which Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I’m not going to get into the political things here today,” Powell said in response to a question from CBS News’ Kelly O’Grady. 

Powell also noted that the election in the near-term will have no impact on the central bank’s rate decisions, with the Fed instead relying on economic data for its decisions. For now, he added, it’s not clear what policies or tax changes may emerge from a second Trump presidency. 

Many of Trump’s proposals, such as tax cuts, must be passed by Congress before being signed into law by the president.

“We don’t know what the timing or substance of any policy changes will be,” Powell said. “We don’t guess, we don’t speculate and we don’t assume.”