Trump vs. Fed: Allies plan for Trump to have more control over interest rates

An exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal claims that Donald Trump’s allies are drawing up plans to dull the Federal Reserve’s independence if the former president wins another term. Trump repeatedly clashed with the central bank during his four years in the White House.

According to the Journal, these allies think the president should be consulted on interest-rate decisions and have the power to oust Jerome Powell before his term as Fed chair expires in May 2026.

The central bank is designed to be politically independent, removed from the influence of presidents so the monetary decisions of the country are not based on what will win votes. Republican lawmakers are speaking out against these supposed plans.

“Given their charge, their independence is critical to doing it in an unbiased, nonpolitical way,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told the Journal.

“I have to think about the Fed for the next 50 years, not the next four, and independence is important,” Sen. Thom Tillis added.

On the record, Trump senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita did not deny the Journal’s report. In a statement, they told the Journal that unless a message is coming directly from Trump or an authorized member of his campaign, it should not be deemed official. 

It’s widely understood in the legal community that the president does not have the authority to remove the head of this federal agency without cause, and “cause” does not mean disagreements on policy. Trump had many of those policy disagreements back when he was president and Powell served as Fed chair. 

“I think the Fed is out of control. I think what they’re doing is wrong,” former President Trump said in 2018.

Between 2018 and 2020, Trump repeatedly, publicly bashed the Fed’s moves and the chairman he appointed.

Before this latest Journal report came out, Straight Arrow News had asked a former Federal Reserve adviser about the possibility of presidents pressuring Powell to make certain interest rate decisions, especially given the election year. QI Research CEO Danielle DiMartino Booth said Powell is one of the least political Fed chairs to serve and is not likely to be influenced by either party. 

“Remember, he’s Jerome Hayden Powell, Esq. He’s a lawyer by training and he knows his Supreme Court precedent,” DiMartino Booth said. “He knows that prior presidents who have attempted without cause to oust the head of a federal agency, which of course he is, have failed in the Supreme Court, and he will lean back on that. And that’s exactly what he did when Trump was in office.”

Trump first appointed Powell, a Republican, to chair the Fed in 2017, succeeding Janet Yellen, who is now President Joe Biden’s Treasury secretary. But Trump and Powell’s relationship quickly soured as Trump’s term went on and the Fed raised interest rates, causing the stock market to stumble. 

“I think the Fed has gone crazy,” Trump said a year after the appointment.

By 2019, he was repeatedly advocating for the Fed to cut interest rates as the stock market stalled.

“I personally think the Fed should drop rates, I really think they slowed us down,” Trumpeter said. “I think they should drop rates and they should get rid of quantitative tightening. You would see a rocket ship.”

Despite reports in 2019 that Trump considered demoting Powell, his administration largely brushed them off, refusing to confirm or deny those discussions occurred.

While Trump asserted political pressure on Powell to lower interest rates during his term, he was critical of the Fed before winning the 2016 election for not raising rates more when Obama was in office.

“I think the Fed is being totally controlled politically. They’re not raising rates and they’re being controlled politically,” Trump said in 2016.

Despite bipartisan insistence that the Fed should remain independent from politics, now Trump’s advisers are reportedly seeking carve-outs to give Trump more political control over monetary policy.

While Trump was first to appoint Powell to the head of the Fed, Biden reappointed him to a second term in 2022.