President-elect Donald Trump has sent mixed signals for years on whether he would fire or demote Jerome Powell. But Powell made it clear Thursday that he won’t be going anywhere even if Trump tried.

Summary

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell asserts that he cannot be fired by President-elect Donald Trump, citing legal protections under the Federal Reserve Act.

Trump has previously expressed his desire to remove Powell, but legal experts argue that a policy disagreement would not constitute “for cause” removal.

  • just_another_person@lemmy.world
    1046·
    14 days ago

    They have the SCOTUS majority and Congress you fuck.

    If you’re really trying to be bold, do something worthwhile to stop him instead of posturing about your miniscule fucking job.

    • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
      205·
      14 days ago

      He is correct, though, that as the law currently stands, Trump can’t just get rid of him on his own authority. And changing the law does take time, theres a process to go through. It’s not like they can just pass a bill that says “Trump can do whatever he damn well pleases”. It has to be worded properly to pass legal muster. There are specific committees that deal with that stuff, and the legislators in charge of that want to keep ownership of it. And he would need to get the entire Republican Caucus to agree, since it will get no Democratic support at all. A handful of Republicans might have their own reasons to not make the changes Trump demands.

      Trump can try without going through all that trouble, but the Powell gets to tell him to go pound sand, and the courts got the final say. Even if the courts are in the tank for Trump, it will still take time to resolve

      If Trump wants him gone, he could probably manage it eventually, with enough effort. But will the administration be disciplined enough to see it through? They might decide other things are more important, like putting brown people in camps.

        • potatopotato@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          13 days ago

          Law is a human construct, it is essentially a consensus structure. You can hold up a piece of paper that says “I can do what I want” and maybe it’s even legitimate, but you still need to convince other people of that and our legal structure/precedent puts more emphasis on process than being efficient or fast.

          In effect, the law has stopped trump from doing just about everything he wants to sans a few items. Every time he tries to do something he has to fight a bunch of people and that takes up some of his finite time and resources.

          Just because he has friends in all the high places doesn’t mean everyone else will just jump into line and do exactly what he wants, the more people obstruct the less damage he can do.

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
        221·
        14 days ago

        The Supreme Court has actually set the precedent that the president is allowed to do whatever they want with complete immunity. From a legal standpoint, Trump can absolutely just get rid of him, one way or another, with no repercussions.

        • stoly@lemmy.world
          14·
          13 days ago

          For what you suggest to happen they’d have to physically block him from the office and cancel his payroll. Otherwise he just keeps going.

          • SkyNTP@lemmy.ml
            11·
            13 days ago

            Sounds to me like you are not very well read on 1930’s German history.

        • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
          27·
          13 days ago

          Within the bounds of his official duties. Which the statute defines. The President can fire many other positions whenever he likes, but not this one.

    • potatopotato@sh.itjust.works
      51·
      14 days ago

      I’d argue he is. Politics and law aren’t deterministic, the rules are flexible and determined by how people interpret them. If it was actually a non issue he wouldn’t bother saying anything. He’s posturing and trying to make a case so that the admin is less likely to start that fight. Everyone has limited time and resources so making it seem like fucking with the Fed would take a lot of both lowers the odds they try.

  • Nightwingdragon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    421·
    13 days ago

    For those who are saying “Trump can’t do this or can’t do that…”

    Yes. Yes he fucking can.

    The American people just voted, in a landslide, in favor of Trump’s agenda. And they voted to send more MAGA people to Congress to help him. They have full control of all 3 branches of government now, with comfortable majorities.

    The Supreme Court just said Trump is immune from prosecution for official acts, which they define as “whatever Trump says they are, unless we say otherwise.”

    There are no more “moderate” Republicans. Anyone who is not fully on board the Trump train has been weeded out. They are there to rubber stamp Project 2025. And there’s not a single one left who would dare to speak, let alone vote, against him.

    This is a “Do what I want and get away with it” administration. Trump will do what he wants. And if it’s not legal, Congress is there to make it legal. And if it’s unconstitutional, the Supreme Court is there to make it Constitutional.

    Understand this. There are no guardrails any more. They’ve all been removed. And rather than defend Democracy, the American people just handed them the tools to do it. Trump can do what he wants, will do what he wants, and he’ll do it to the thunderous applause of the American public.

    Authoritarianism is here. It’s covered in spray-tan. And it’s going to be sworn in in January.

    Remember, Arab-Americans. You refused to vote for Harris because of Gaza. When Israel ratchets up the genocide with Trump’s blessing, remember that you voted for this.

    Remember, Latino men who wouldn’t vote for Harris because she’s a woman. When you get caught up in the mass deportations or half of your friends get sent back to their home countries, remember that you voted for this.

    Same with the white guys. When you lose that cushy federal job because your answers on a random questionnaire weren’t MAGA enough, remember that you voted for this.

    When it’s your daughters bleeding out in a parking lot because of a national abortion ban, remember that you voted for this.

    You think you’re strapped for cash now? Trump’s new tariffs are going to cost you on average about $400 a month. You won’t get anything out of it. You’ll just be spending $400 a month on literally nothing because the guy you voted for doesn’t understand how tariffs work. And that doesn’t even count price hikes from the ripple effects of the tariffs and what it will do to the entire supply chain. Hope you’ve got a plan, because again…you fucking voted for this.

    And this doesn’t even take into account the fact that Republicans just got finished admitting that they were lying about Project 2025 all along. They know how unpopular it is. They know people see it as a power grab. THEY OPENLY ADMITTED FUCKING LYING TO YOU TO GET THEIR AGENDA PASSED. JD VANCE OPENLY ADMITTED LYING TO VOTERS IN ORDER TO SHAPE THE NARRATIVE. AND YOU STILL VOTED FOR THEM. And they couldn’t even wait 24 hours before taking the masks off and laughing directly in your face. Project 2025 is what we do know about. I’m fearful of what else they’ve been withholding that they plan on doing.

    Y’all are about to find out that the most expensive trip in your lives is going to prove to be the trip to the voting booth that you didn’t take. We’ll all be paying for that for decades to come.

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      13 days ago

      I’ll be ready to remind the dumbfucks in my life that I know voted for their diaper daddy. Believe that.

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
      10·
      14 days ago

      Unless you’re also the President of the US “legal protections” mean jack shit. You will do the Kings bidding or you suffer his wraith.

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    5·
    13 days ago

    “Legal protections” lmao

    These fucking idiots. He doesn’t care. He never has. He never will. And this round, he’s got shitloads of people waiting in the wings to kneecap and bleed out the bureaucracy that’s designed to protect normal people and important positions that need to be isolated from politics by their very nature. This time he’s gotten people to look up the blueprints and they’re going for the weak points. And there’s going to be paramilitary.

    “Price is right” rules: call how long it takes Powell to become a political prisoner, at best. I’m gonna say 17 months.

  • Jesus@lemmy.world
    1·
    13 days ago

    Does it matter? Powell’s term ends in a year and a half, and then Trump gets to pick a train wreck chair that we would be stuck with for 4 years.

    Also, he claims he doesn’t want to give Powell a 3rd term.

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
    12·
    14 days ago

    It’s basically unheard of to order a Fed Chair to resign. Trump might as well ask all the Democratic appointees on SCOTUS to resign. Difference is, Powell is due to leave in May 2026, and Trump would be really stupid to try and force an early departure. Just end up with egg on his face. It will be Trump’s to loot in 2026 in any case,