A Trump administration official on Friday suggested that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is reportedly considering resigning.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte – a vocal critic of Powell who has backed President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure the central bank into interest rate cuts – released a statement on X and the agency’s website alluding to unspecified reports that Powell will resign.
“I’m encouraged by reports that Jerome Powell is considering resigning. I think this will be the right decision for America, and the economy will boom,” Pulte said.
It’s unclear where Pulte is getting the information he used for the statement and there is no other public information on the subject at this time.
FOX Business reached out to the Federal Reserve regarding Pulte’s statement. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment and referenced the numerous times that Powell has said he intends to serve out the remainder of his term.
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Powell’s term as Fed chair ends on May 15, 2026, though his term as a member of the central bank’s board of governors extends until January 31, 2028, although he hasn’t indicated whether he intends to serve out that term following his chairmanship.
Pulte, who was confirmed to his role by the Senate in March, has repeatedly called for Powell to resign or face investigation over the agency’s handling of monetary policy and other matters on social media since taking office. In late May, Pulte posted that Powell “needs to lower interest rates” and said the “housing market would be in much better shape if Chairman Powell does this.”
He began calling for Powell’s resignation in mid-June, after central bank policymakers declined to cut interest rates held the benchmark federal funds interest rate target steady for the fourth consecutive meeting. Since then, Pulte has posted multiple criticisms of Powell and calls for his resignation on a near-daily basis.
Last week, Pulte called for Congress to investigate Powell over “his political bias, and his deceptive testimony, which is enough to be removed ‘for cause.'” He added that that Powell mismanaged the Fed’s headquarters renovation project and said it’s “nothing short of malfeaseance and is worthy of ‘for cause.’”
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President Trump – who appointed Powell to the role in 2017 – has publicly weighed firing Powell, though under federal law he can only be removed for cause.
Pulte’s criticism comes as Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on Thursday sent a letter to the Fed regarding what he called an “ostentatious overhaul” of the project, saying that Powell’s recent testimony on the subject “raises serious questions” about the project’s compliance with design plans submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission.
Trump was asked this week during a recent Cabinet meeting that was open to the press about allegations Powell lied to Congress, when he again called for Powell to step down so that he could replace him with a chair who would cut interest rates.
“Well, then he should resign immediately. We should get somebody in there that’s going to lower interest rates,” Trump replied. “It’s OK with me, I think he’s terrible.”
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The Federal Reserve’s renovation of its two main office buildings was initially estimated to cost $1.9 billion in 2019, though the estimated cost rose to nearly $2.5 billion due to “significant increases” in the cost of wood, steel, cement and other construction materials per budget documents The Wall Street Journal cited in a 2023 report on the subject.
Federal law governing the Federal Reserve System gives the central bank the authority to build facilities for its use, as well as to maintain, enlarge or remodel those facilities – and also gives the Fed sole control of those buildings and the space inside.
At a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing on monetary policy, Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., criticized the renovation project, citing the design elements that are the focus of Vought’s letter, saying in his opening remarks the renovations “feel more like they belong in the Palace of Versailles than a public institution.”
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Powell was later asked about the project during the hearing and said the Fed “will provide a much more detailed response” and that “we do take seriously our responsibility as stewards of the public’s money, and the other thing I would start with is no one wants to do a major renovation of a historic building during their term in office. Much prefer to leave that to your successors, and this is a great example why – let alone two historic buildings.”
“I would also say that the media reports that you accurately quoted – they’re misleading and inaccurate in many, many respects,” Powell said. “I would just point to there’s no VIP dining room, there’s no new marble – we took down the old marble, we’re putting it back up, we’ll have to use new marble where some of the old marble broke.”
“There’s no special elevators, there’s just old elevators that have been there. There are no new water features, there’s no beehives, and there’s no roof terrace gardens,” Powell said. “All of the sort of inflammatory things that the media carried are either not in the current plan or just inaccurate.”
“Notwithstanding that, the cost overruns are what they are,” Powell started to elaborate before Scott cut him off, citing the panel’s five-minute rule for each senator’s questioning. The Senate Banking Committee later said the Fed is organizing a staff briefing on the subject.
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