President Donald Trump is growing more and more impatient with his own pick for Federal Reserve chairman.
Trump ramped up his fresh slew of attacks against Jerome Powell on Wednesday, calling for the resignation of the Fed chair whom he has branded “Too Late” for refusing to slash interest rates.
“‘Too Late’ should resign immediately!!!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
The president linked to a Bloomberg story about Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, urging Congress to investigate Powell for supposedly lying to lawmakers about renovations to the central bank’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Pulte claimed, without providing evidence, that Powell delivered a “deceptive” testimony to senators last week about the renovations. He alleged that Powell wanted a “plush private dining room and elevator, skylights, water features, and roof terrace.”
“He lied when asked about the specifics before Congress. This is nothing short of malfeasance and is worthy of ‘for cause,’” Pulte said in a statement. “Chairman Powell needs to be investigated by Congress immediately.”
Powell told senators, however, that media reports characterizing the renovations have been “misleading.”
“All the sort of inflammatory things that the media carried are either not in the current plan or just inaccurate,” he said.
Powell’s term as Fed chair ends next year, though he will stay on as governor until 2028. He has repeatedly reminded Trump, who nominated him to the role in 2017, that he can only be removed “for cause.”
Trump reignited his crusade against Powell in recent weeks over the central bank’s decision to hold key interest rates steady amid the administration’s sprawling trade war.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt showed the media a handwritten note from Trump to Powell that read: “Jerome - You are, as usual, ‘too late.’ You have cost the USA a fortune and continue to do so - You should lower the rate - by a lot!”
Powell admitted on Tuesday that he would have cut interest rates if it weren’t for Trump’s tariffs.
“We went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs, and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs,” he said. “We didn’t overreact. In fact, we didn’t react at all. We’re simply taking some time.”
