(Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Image credit: Chip Somodevilla // Getty Images)
Last night, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell put the whole of the establishment wing of the Republican Party to shame. Not to mention every Republican federal lawmaker. Not to mention most lawmakers, regardless of party. Not to mention every damn member of the Trump administration.
It was about 7pm ET when reports began hitting the wires that federal prosecutors—under Trump’s direction—had opened an investigation into Mr. Powell over the agency’s renovations to its headquarters building in Washington, D.C., the implication being that the federal funds for it were improperly used and/or procured.
None of that is true. It’s merely the latest toddler tactic from Trump as he seeks to weaponize the Justice Department against his political enemies. Similar attacks on James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James were thrown out by federal courts last year.
Trump is angry because Chairman Powell has refused to do his bidding on lowering interest rates, which would result in Americans borrowing more and spending more, hopefully galvanizing the sluggish U.S. economy, although it would be a temporary fix that may worsen our economic situation in the long run.
For most of last year, Trump shamelessly attempted to publicly pressure Chairman Powell into lowering interest rates. In April, he posted on Truth Social that Mr. Powell’s firing from the position “couldn’t come fast enough,” seen by many as a trial balloon to create public permission to do exactly that.
Then, in July, reports emerged that Trump had drafted a letter to fire Chairman Powell and was sounding out Republican lawmakers on whether he should go through with it, all of which the Trump administration flatly denied despite multiple sources corroborating the claim.
Although the Federal Reserve Chairman is appointed to four-year terms by the president (and confirmed by the Senate), the holder of that position cannot be fired by the president without cause. Declining to lower interest rates is nowhere near sufficient cause.
That’s because the Federal Reserve—the central bank of the U.S.—is an independent body and should be free of retaliatory actions by partisan actors, a concept which has largely been taken for granted for the more-than-a-century of its existence.
It’s also not a great look for Trump that he originally appointed Mr. Powell to that position in 2017 during his first term.
Thus, all of Trump’s saber-rattling in Chairman Powell’s direction has entirely failed to move the needle. Chairman Powell has been unimpressed by Trump’s antics.
Take, for instance, this moment last July—the week after that report emerged of the drafted termination letter—when Trump attempted to sandbag Chairman Powell during a hit on national television:
Chairman Powell immediately read the play and corrected Trump’s math, live, before a Fox News audience and called out his disinformation.
Pretty embarrassing!
So, last night, it shouldn’t have been all that surprising when Chairman Powell posted a direct-to-camera statement in response to the report that the Justice Department is investigating him.
But it was pretty damn surprising, not least because it was posted from the Federal Reserve’s official account on Twitter (click below to watch):
It was not flashy. It was not hyperbolic. It didn’t even sound particularly aggressive.
And yet, it was devastating for Trump. The calm and direct manner of Jerome Powell in addressing the investigation immediately reverberated throughout American political circles and far beyond.
Within an hour, Chairman Powell was trending on every social media site and being discussed among folks who have no idea what the hell the Federal Reserve does.
As of this writing, 14 hours later, the video has been viewed more than 50 million times on Twitter alone.
It’s not hard to see the appeal.
You don’t watch this recording by Chairman Powell and see an unabashed political statement or transparent spin or even so much as the slightest rhetorical flourish. What you see is a grown man who is confident in his values, who prioritizes his integrity, and who is visibly tired of Trump’s nonsense.
This is the look your well-respected math teacher gives you during a brutal discussion after they’ve tried their best to help you succeed and now they’ve caught you cheating on an exam and they’re beyond disappointed with your conduct.
It is sober, clear, and searing in its calmness.
Hell, I thought I was the one in trouble while watching it.
Jerome Powell’s current term as Chair of the Federal Reserve will end in May, although he’ll remain a member of its Board of Governors until 2028. He will almost certainly be replaced by a Trump lackey when his chairmanship ends.
But not so fast! This morning, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) announced he will block all of Trump’s Federal Reserve nominees—including whomever is picked to replace Mr. Powell—until the DOJ’s investigation is resolved.
I don’t pretend to know to what degree this is shifting the tide against Trump’s childish and corrupt actions, but I know it’s a lot.
I know that we’re seeing people in the conservative wing of the federal government engage in handwringing over how this will affect the economy, let alone the apprehension over Trump getting into a constitutional knife fight with someone as stoic and respected as Mr. Powell.
We’ve been waiting for someone in the Republican ranks to unapologetically stand up to Trump at the highest levels and refuse to be cowed into submission.
We may finally have that.
