White House National Economic Commission Director Kevin Hassett said on Sunday that the Trump administration is looking at whether Donald Trump has the right to fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
Despite Trump’s request, the president repeatedly criticized Powell for his resistance to U.S. central bank lowering interest rates.
In an interview with ABC “This Week”, Hassett was asked whether he had the right to order Powell to be removed.
“This is something being studied,” Hassett said. “But of course, if there is a reason, he would do it.”
The U.S. Supreme Court recently proposed that it could block potential attempts to fire Powell and claimed that the central bank is “a unique, quasi-private entity.”
Still, the Trump administration appears to have laid the foundation for Powell’s removal by reviewing the renovation works at the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, which Hassett said has exceeded the original cost of $700 million.
Hassett will not use Trump as a “predicate” to fire Powell.
“I think whether the president decides to push this path along this path will depend heavily on our answer to the question Russia has sent to the Fed,” Hassett told ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote to Powell on Thursday, raising questions about the project.
“The president is very troubled by your management of the Fed system,” Vought said. “You did not try to correct the Fed’s fiscal ship, but you did an exaggerated overhaul of the Washington, D.C. headquarters.”
After that, Vought suggested that the project should be investigated.
The Fed has now released a dedicated section that targets its FAQ page, involving some of the major issues Powell critics about the price of renovation, including denials that the project involves building a new VIP restaurant.
