US President Donald Trump lashed out at Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell Wednesday after the central bank head said he would stay on as a governor.
"Jerome 'Too Late' Powell wants to stay at the Fed because he can't get a job anywhere else - Nobody wants him," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
The post comes after Powell said he’ll remain at the Federal Reserve as a governor after his term as chair of the central bank ends. He also noted that Justice Department officials had assured him over the weekend they wouldn’t restart a controversial criminal investigation into the central bank unless the Fed’s internal watchdog recommended that.
The decision breaks with the precedent of past Fed chairs leaving the institution when their leadership term expires. The last outgoing chair to remain on the board was Marriner Eccles, who stayed on as a policy maker until 1951 after his term as head of the central bank ended in 1948.
What Powell said?
“After my term as chair ends on May 15, I will continue to serve as a governor for a period of time to be determined,” Powell said Wednesday at a press conference.
Powell attempted to head off any criticism of his decision and to hose down concerns that he will emerge as an alternative, “shadow” leader of the Fed by stressing he doesn’t plan to lead any resistance to his successor.
“I plan to keep a low profile as a governor,” he said. “There is only ever one chair of the Federal Reserve Board. When Kevin Warsh is confirmed and sworn in, he will be that chair.”
President Donald Trump has nominated former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to be the next chair.
“I’m not looking to be a high profile dissident or anything like that,” Powell said.
“I’ve said that I will not leave the board until this investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality, and I stand by that,” Powell said. “I will leave when I think it’s appropriate to do so.”
While Powell said he was encouraged by a decision by the Justice Department last week to drop a controversial criminal investigation into building-renovation cost overruns at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, he cautioned that political pressures on the central bank remain.
In announcing the end of the DOJ probe, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said she had asked the Fed’s internal watchdog to take over looking into the construction project, but also promised to restart her investigation “should the facts warrant doing so.”
“The institution is being battered over these things,” Powell said. “My concern is legal attacks on the Fed, which threaten our ability to conduct monetary policy without considering political factors.”
With inputs from Reuters and Bloomberg
