Trump says he won’t fire Fed chair Powell (because he, er, can’t)
US President Donald Trump has assured Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell that his job is safe, even though he is “not thrilled” with the central bank’s actions.
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“It’s safe, yeah, it’s safe. I mean, sure, why not?” Trump told Fox News in an interview following the Fed’s decision to lower interest rates by one notch. He had heaped public pressure on the Fed for a deeper cut.
Trump has previously stated that he can fire Powell. In a June interview, also given to Fox, he said: “I have the right to demote him. I have the right to fire him.”
Yet a president is only allowed to remove the Fed chair “for cause”. The US courts have not historically interpreted policy differences as a viable reason.
The Fed voted seven to three to cut interest rates for its second meeting in a row last night, taking its overnight lending target to between 1.75 per cent and two per cent.
Trump reacted angrily last night, tweeting: “Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve Fail Again. No “guts,” no sense, no vision! A terrible communicator!”
Trump told Fox today: “I mean he’s got a job, and you know, I’m disappointed in him.”
The President has kept up unprecedented public pressure on the Fed chairman he appointed in 2016. Trump has argued that the economy would “rocket” if rates were lowered even further.
He has also been irked by other countries having lower borrowing costs than the US. He said last week that “boneheads” at the Fed should bring rates to zero “or less”.
Read more: US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by a quarter point
“The USA should always be paying the the lowest rate,” he said.
(Image credit: Getty)