U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he does not intend to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, even as the Justice Department investigates the central bank’s renovation project
“I don’t have any plan to do that,” Trump said in an interview.
However, the president added that he has not yet decided whether the probe could eventually provide grounds for dismissing Powell, saying it was “too early” to reach such a conclusion.
“Right now, we’re in a little bit of a holding pattern with him, and we’re going to determine what to do. But I can’t get into it,” Trump said.
Under federal law, members of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors can be removed only “for cause,” not over policy disagreements.
Trump also dismissed criticism from some Republican lawmakers who have warned that the investigation could be used to influence the Fed’s interest-rate decisions.
“I don’t care,” Trump said. “There’s nothing to say. They should be loyal. That’s what I say.”
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Insights
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