President Donald Trump reportedly told Republican lawmakers on Tuesday night that he may soon oust Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over his growing frustration with the official over U.S. interest rates, according to multiple reports.
During a closed-door meeting in the Oval Office with about a dozen House Republicans, the president asked whether the lawmakers believed he should fire the man he picked in 2017 to lead the U.S. central bank. The lawmakers in the meeting supported the idea, CBS News first reported.
Trump then waved a copy of a draft letter firing Powell and indicated he would do it soon, according to The New York Times. The discussion was also confirmed by CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, among other outlets.
The president has been at odds with Powell for years, but tensions between the two have grown over the past several months due to the Fed chair resisting Trump’s calls to lower interest rates. Powell has voiced concerns about the effect Trump’s tariffs have on the economy, leading to angry attacks by the president and increased calls for his resignation.
Trump denied the reports that Powell’s firing is imminent, saying on Wednesday that the Fed chair is “doing a lousy job” but that he was “not talking about that” during last night’s meeting.
“I talked about the concept of firing [Powell]. Almost everyone said I should, but I’m more conservative than they are,” he told reporters, according to The Washington Post. The Journal reported that Trump also said he believes it’s “highly unlikely” he would oust Powell “unless he has to leave for fraud.”
The Supreme Court ruled in May that the president cannot remove Fed officials without cause, which usually refers to incidents of misconduct and not disagreements over monetary policy. Powell’s term is set to expire in May 2026.
The Trump administration has targeted a $2 billion renovation project of the Fed’s historic building that’s expected to house most of the central bank’s staff. The project, which began in 2021, has reportedly been scaled back due to already being an estimated $700 million over budget.
Powell said Monday that the Fed’s inspector general should conduct a review of the project.