Overview

• At a White House event, President Trump denied any plan to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell but insisted “in eight months he will be gone.”
• Scott Bessent urged caution over Powell’s departure, affirming he can serve through May 2026 while scrutinizing the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion headquarters renovation.
• Legal experts note that federal law demands a significant cause for firing a Fed chair, making an early dismissal legally uncertain.
• Economist Mohamed El-Erian publicly called on Powell to resign voluntarily to safeguard the central bank’s operational independence.
• Speculation intensifies over potential successors, with Kevin Hassett, Christopher Waller and Kevin Warsh emerging as leading candidates.