Fed chair Jerome Powell is slated to deliver a speech tomorrow at 8:30 AM EST.
Amid this announcement, director of Federal Housing, William John Pulte, said on X(formerly Twitter) that Powell's ‘resignation speech’ is coming, though he did not believe that the address tomorrow would be regarding that.
Powell's troubles with the Trump administration
Powell has found himself at loggerheads with the Donald Trump administration. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent further turned up the heat, saying the Federal Reserve's vital independence on monetary policy is threatened by its "mandate creep" into non-policy areas. Bessent then called on the US Fed to conduct an exhaustive review of those operations.
Trump has railed repeatedly against Powell, urging him to resign because of the central bank's reluctance to cut interest rates. In recent days, Trump has also taken aim at the $2.5 billion renovation at the Fed's almost 100-year-old Washington headquarters, which has exceeded its budget, suggesting there could be fraud involved and that might be a reason to oust Powell.
Also Read | Who could replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair
{{/usCountry}}Trump has railed repeatedly against Powell, urging him to resign because of the central bank's reluctance to cut interest rates. In recent days, Trump has also taken aim at the $2.5 billion renovation at the Fed's almost 100-year-old Washington headquarters, which has exceeded its budget, suggesting there could be fraud involved and that might be a reason to oust Powell.
Also Read | Who could replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair
{{/usCountry}}Congress member Anna Paulina Luna also formally referred Powell to the DoJ for criminal investigation.
“I have formally referred Jerome Powell to the DOJ for criminal investigation. Chairman Powell knowingly misled both Congress and executive branch officials about the true nature of a taxpayer-funded project. Lying under oath is a serious offense— especially from someone tasked with overseeing our monetary system and public trust,” she wrote on X.
Meanwhile, speaking with CNBC earlier on Monday, Bessent declined to comment on a report that he had advised Trump not to fire Powell. He said it would be Trump's decision.
"If this were the (Federal Aviation Administration) and we were having this many mistakes, we would go back and look at why. Why has this happened?" said Bessent, whom Trump has mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Powell. "All these PhDs over there, I don't know what they do."
(With Reuters inputs)