Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell mostly breezed through two hearings on Capitol Hill this week but now heads into a much bigger challenge: a potential threat that President Donald Trump could undermine his authority by soon naming his pick to head the central bank next year.
As Powell testified Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee, holding generally cordial exchanges with lawmakers, Trump was at the NATO summit in The Hague lobbing his latest attacks on a man he had nominated for the Fed job nearly eight years ago.
“I think he’s terrible,” Trump said when asked during a news conference about his intentions for the next Fed leader. Trump then called Powell a “very average mentally person,” adding he has “a low IQ for what he does” and is “a very political guy.”
“I think he is a very stupid person, actually,” Trump said.
While Trump’s name-calling of Powell isn’t particularly new, the words now could signal action.
Potential candidates
In the wake of the intense criticism, Wall Street has been buzzing over the potential for a “shadow chair,” or someone Trump could install as a central bank gadfly until Powell’s term expires in May 2026.
The talk has impacted markets: Traders on Thursday accelerated bets on rate cuts this year, with three reductions now at about a 60% odds, compared to a strong likelihood of two just a few days ago, according to CME Group data. Treasury yields tumbled at the shorter end of the curve, which is where the Fed has its influence, falling much more than those at the long end. The dollar also was down sharply against its global counterparts.
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