Trump Threatens to Fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell Before His Time Is Up

President Trump wants to fire Federal Reserve Jerome Powell next month if he doesn’t step aside upon the end of his term—even if his replacement hasn’t been confirmed yet. 

In an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo Wednesday morning, Trump complained about a made-up scandal involving renovations to the Federal Reserve headquarters, and said he’d have to fire Powell “if he’s not leaving on time,” as his term ends May 15. But Trump’s replacement, Kevin Warsh, has not been confirmed by the Senate, leaving open the possibility that Powell will stay on as chair “pro tempore,” as regulations state.  

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Warsh’s confirmation hearing with the Senate Banking Committee is scheduled for April 21, but his nomination faces opposition from Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who has refused to confirm Warsh until Trump ends his investigation into the Fed chair. Powell himself said last month he would stay on until the investigation ends. 

“I have no intention of leaving the Board until the investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality,” Powell said. 

Trump has complained about Powell for months because he won’t lower interest rates to the president’s liking. In Wednesday’s interview, Trump still tried to bring up his sham investigation into the Fed’s building renovations, even as it holds up his preferred Fed nominee. 

“Does that mean we stop a probe of a building that I would have done for $25 million that’s going to cost maybe $4 billion? Don’t you think we have to find out what happened there?” Trump told Bartiromo, adding that “it is probably corrupt, but what it really is is incompetent, and we have to show the incompetence of that.” 

This story has been updated.