Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday that he will not step down if President-elect Donald Trump asks for his resignation.
When asked whether he would resign if requested to by Trump, the Fed chair simply said: “No.” Powell subsequently told reporters that the president does not have the power to fire or demote him.
“Not permitted under the law,” Powell told reporters at a news conference, after the Fed cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point.
Investors will be closely watching the president-elect’s contentious relationship with the Fed chair. Trump appointed Powell in 2017, but repeatedly lashed out against the central bank chief during his first term as president, arguing Powell was not easing monetary policy quickly enough.
Trump said in an October interview that the president should be able to weigh in on interest rate decisions.
“I don’t think I should be allowed to order it, but I think I have the right to put in comments as to whether the interest rates should go up or down,” Trump told Bloomberg News at the Economic Club of Chicago on Oct. 15.
As Covid-19 swept the nation in March 2020, Trump claimed the authority to remove Powell from office. The Fed chair’s term ends in 2026.