Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has cautioned White House officials that removing Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve would risk destabilizing financial markets, Politico reports.
The report comes as President Donald Trump has stepped up his attacks against Powell — on Thursday he accused the central bank chief of “playing politics” by not cutting interest rates and asserted he had the power to evict Powell from his job “real fast.”
Powell has downplayed the likelihood of cutting interest rates in the near future and said recently that the administration’s tariff plans were likely to raise both inflation and unemployment.
The Fed’s benchmark interest rate is 4.25% to 4.5%, where it has been since December following several rate cuts late last year.
Trump on Thursday said the Fed “really owes it to the American people to get interest rates down. That’s the only thing [Powell] is good for. I am not happy with him. If I want him out of there, he’ll be out real fast, believe me.”
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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