Poker-Faced Powell May Have Ace Up Sleeve To Stymie Trump's Fed Shakeup
HuffPost • • business
Key Points:
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, faces a choice between retiring to focus on family and passions or staying on the Fed Board of Governors to help defend the central bank’s independence amid pressure from the Trump administration.
- Powell’s separate Fed Board seat lasts for two more years, potentially giving him a critical vote on monetary policy and any structural changes despite the expected nomination of a replacement Fed chief by President Trump.
- Recent events, including a threatened DOJ indictment perceived as a pressure tactic on monetary policy, have prompted Powell to publicly push back against Trump’s demands for aggressive interest rate cuts and challenges to Fed independence.
- Staying on the board would break decades of precedent where outgoing Fed chiefs resign their board seats to allow successors to lead un
