President Donald Trump is itching to fire Fed Chair Jay Powell

President Donald Trump said that Fed Chair Jerome Powell “is always TOO LATE AND WRONG,” adding that his “termination cannot come fast enough” in a post on Truth Social this morning. The comments left no obvious, large imprint on financial markets.

It’s a familiar critique from the president, who often castigated the Fed during his first term for, in his view, raising policy rates too much and continuing to run down bonds off its balance sheet (known as quantitative tightening) for too long.

Back in November, when asked if the president has the ability to fire him, Powell said it was “not permitted under the law.” Per the Federal Reserve Act, members of the board of governors of the Fed can only be fired for cause — though what constitutes “cause” is not something that’s been tested when it comes to the US central bank.

Further muddying the waters is that there are ongoing legal battles that could potentially see the Supreme Court water down or reverse a long-standing precedent known as Humphrey’s Executor, which prevents the president from firing certain nonpolitical appointees.

Responding to a question on Wednesday, Powell said he did not think one particular case in question would apply to the Fed, regardless of the decision.