• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell refuses to leave his post and defies Donald Trump
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced that he would remain in his post after the end of his term, contrary to tradition. He explained that he feared for the independence of the US central bank after repeated attacks from the Trump administration.
• Jerome Powell will not be leaving his post in May.
Traditionally, a Federal Reserve chairman leaves office at the end of his term to facilitate the transition to the new administration of the central bank. But this time, Jerome Powell will not be leaving. The current Fed chairman announced on Wednesday that he will remain in his position after May 15
Jerome Powell justifies his choice by citing the pressure campaign and legal attacks launched by the Trump administration against the Federal Reserve, which is accused of not lowering interest rates quickly enough.
For these reasons, the current Fed chairman fears for the independence of his institution and will remain in office, as he confirmed during what was to be his last conference
A sign of crisis between the Trump administration and an independent body
The move is highly unusual: the last Federal Reserve chairman to remain in office after his term was Marriner Eccles, in 1948. It's a sign of a crisis in the United States, where Donald Trump has repeatedly tested the limits of independent bodies. The Justice Department, for example, opened an investigation into renovations at the Federal Reserve headquarters—a pretext, according to Jerome Powell, to put pressure on the institution
He announced that he would only leave when the investigation was "truly and transparently concluded, and with a definitive character".
Donald Trump repeatedly threatened Jerome Powell with dismissal. In reality, a US president cannot fire a high-ranking official except in cases of serious misconduct. The Trump administration therefore tried to use the Fed reform affair as a valid reason for dismissal, so far without success.
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