Friedman: The president’s scheme to sack Powell paves the road to constitutional ruin

I am rarely rendered speechless, but it is hard for me to find the words to express my respect for and gratitude to the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, for doing something so few Republicans have been ready to do: Stand up to the lying and bullying of President Donald Trump and the cowardly sycophants — in this case Attorney General Pam Bondi — he has surrounded himself with.

Instead of bending to Trump, hiding or turning the other cheek, Powell called out the Justice Department for its investigation into him over alleged spending overruns on renovations of the Fed’s headquarters, telling Americans what it really is: an attempt by Trump and those around him to use the threat of criminal prosecution to pressure the Federal Reserve into lowering interest rates.

Like so many other red lines crossed in the first year of Trump’s second term, a criminal investigation of a sitting Fed chair — with the obvious intent of stripping him of his independence to force the lower rates the president wants before the midterms — had never happened before in our history.

So far, just a few Republican lawmakers have stood up in Powell’s defense. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, said he would block any nominee to replace Powell until the investigation is “fully resolved.”

Tillis added: “If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none. It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who is one of the Fed chair’s biggest critics, said he thought Powell was a “bad Fed chair” but added, “I do not believe, however, he is a criminal.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she spoke with Powell, and “it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion.” But House Speaker Mike Johnson, always a profile in courage, when asked if he thought the investigation was warranted, said, “That’s not really my lane.”

Uncharted waters

If we were still a normal country, the entire Republican House and Senate leadership would be marching over to the White House today to denounce this sham investigation.

But as I said, that’s if we were a normal country. Honest to God, I truly wonder how Republican lawmakers go home at night and face their loved ones:

“Honey, what did you do at work today?”

“Well, it was just another day of me swallowing my dignity, ignoring my role as a member of a coequal branch of government and zipping my mouth shut while I watched President Trump violate another law or norm.”

Which is why I say again, thank the Lord for Powell, because if the Justice Department can be leveraged to destroy the sacrosanct independence of the Federal Reserve, then Trump will be completely unbound, and we are heading for economic trouble and constitutional ruin.

And that was the core message of the extraordinary video that Powell posted Sunday night after news of the investigation — which focuses on whether he lied to Congress when testifying about the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters — was reported by The New York Times.

“No one — certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve — is above the law. But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure,” Powell stated. “This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings.” Calling those reasons “pretexts,” he said that “the threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president.”

“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether, instead, monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

That is the sound of integrity in a city where all we have seen from Republicans is a president acting with impunity. We have not heard such straight talk since Liz Cheney told her fellow Republicans who gave Trump a pass for the Jan. 6 Capitol takeover: “In our country, we don’t swear an oath to an individual or a political party. We take our oath to defend the United States Constitution. And that oath must mean something.”

How we got here

Powell’s term as chair ends in May, and press reports have indicated that the two front-runners to replace him are Kevin Warsh, who served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, and Kevin Hassett, who currently serves as director of the National Economic Council. I hope they both declare that they will not take the job if Powell is forced out of his position by this kangaroo court prosecution. Either way, they should be asked at any confirmation hearing: Would you be prepared to risk your job to defend the independence of the Fed from Trump as Powell was?

It is not a secret how we got to this point. With every passing week, Trump breaks a norm, tests a law or enters a new conflict without proper consultation with Congress or respect for the Constitution. And when Republicans — they are the only lawmakers with the majority power to stop him — gave in to nominations of people totally unfit for Cabinet positions, looked the other way at shady Trump pardons and gave a free pass to his financial enrichment while serving in office, it was the beginning of a slippery slope of normalizing his excesses.

That slope has now reached a depth that emboldened Trump enough to actually try to destroy the independence of the Federal Reserve.

My favorite line in Powell’s Sunday night remarks was this: “Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do, with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.”

How many Republican lawmakers would have the guts and integrity to make that statement? So far, you don’t need more than two hands to count them.

Shame, shame, shame on all of them.

Thomas Friedman is a columnist for The New York Times.