It’s no secret that Trump wants to bring a quick end to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s Reign of Error. Powell gave us the highest inflation at 9.1% since the late 1970s. He was WAY behind the curve in trying to smother the crippling inflation of 2021 and 2022. He has also been the most political Fed chair perhaps ever, with his pronouncements gratuitously attacking Trump policies.

Powell’s term is officially up in May 2026 , but Trump may not wait that long to evict him from office or make him irrelevant. Trump wants much lower interest rates (which makes us nervous) and “Too Late Powell,” as Trump calls him, won’t deliver.

Our preferred option is for Trump to wait out Powell, and replace him next year with a pro-growth chairman (Laffer, Forbes, Warsh, Hassett, Shelton, Malpass) who will pursue price stability, economic growth, and a strong dollar.

The media and other Liberals are hyperventilating that Trump is making a play to take over voting control in the months to come and that Fed independence is in jeopardy.

The chart below shows the current composition of the Fed Board of Governors.

With the coming addition of Stephen Miran, that gives Trump three votes.  If the allegations of Lisa Cook’s mortgage fraud are true, she must be replaced as soon as possible, which would make four.  Liberals will only have themselves to blame for giving Trump an additional selection to the board, by appointing a woman who may be deemed unfit for office.

This would give Trump a 4-3 anti-Powell coalition on the Fed board – potentially enough votes to overrule Powell on monetary policy. The rules are complicated because the Fed also has 12 regional bank presidents who rotate in voting on interest rate policy.

We believe in Fed independence AND accountability. There is no accountability now.

Postscript: To our knowledge, the only time the Fed board has overruled a chairman was in 1986 when the Fed Board voted for a discount rate cut against Paul Volcker’s wishes.