Useful information
Prime News delivers timely, accurate news and insights on global events, politics, business, and technology
KPMG Chief Economist Diane Swonk analyzes the Federal Reserve’s response to inflation in ‘The Claman Countdown.’
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will serve out the remainder of his first term in charge of the U.S. Central Bank, depending on President-elect Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary.
Hedge fund manager Scott Bessent told CNBC that he “completely agrees” with Trump “that Jay Powell will serve out his mandate.” Bessent spoke to the outlet after meeting with Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, while visiting senators ahead of his confirmation hearing as the next head of the Treasury Department.
Bessent’s comments confirm what Trump himself said in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday. Although he has criticized Powell for keeping interest rates high (a measure the Federal Reserve believes is necessary to keep inflation under control), Trump said he has no plans to try to fire Powell or pressure him to resign once he returns to office. position in January.
TRUMP SAYS HE WON’T FIRE FEDERATION PRESIDENT JEROME POWELL
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on January 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. Chairman Powell announced that the Federal Reserve will not adjust interest rates. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“No, I don’t think so,” Trump told Welker after she asked him if he would fire the Federal Reserve chairman. “I don’t see it. But I don’t see it. I think if I told him, he would. But if I asked him, he probably wouldn’t. But if I told him, he would.”
Bessent, CEO of Key Square Group LP, also criticized Powell, but unlike Trump, argued that Powell should have kept interest rates higher to avoid inflation.
FED CHAIR SAYS NEXT MOVE IS LIKELY TO LOWER RATES, BUT TIMING UNCERTAIN
Scott Bessent, founder and CEO of Key Square Group LP, during an interview in Washington, DC, on Friday, June 7, 2024. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“If only Powell had refrained from signaling rate cuts in December and stuck to the ‘higher for longer’ script, the economy could have slowed enough to allow for real rate cuts in the coming months,” Bessent wrote in a May op-ed for FOX. Business. “Without a doubt, the Fed will remain under tremendous political pressure to do so before the November election, but rate cuts are likely off the table indefinitely with inflation this high.”
TRUMP NOMINATES SCOTT BESSENT AS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY; ELECTS RUSS VOUGHT TO HEAD BUDGET OFFICE
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will not try to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell once he takes office in January. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Powell’s current term will expire in 2026. Trump appointed Powell to a four-year term overseeing the Federal Reserve in 2018 and President Biden reappointed him to another term in 2022.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Powell has indicated that Trump does not have the legal authority to force him from office early and has said he would not resign if asked to do so.
