Instead of Firing Powell, Trump Could Add New Fed Governors

A better board could help the chairman, and the economy.

President Trump spoke about the Federal Reserve yesterday in the Oval Office.

During President Trump’s colloquy with the White House press corps yesterday about whether he would fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (“Highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud”), Trump made a shrewd and underappreciated observation.

After denouncing Powell for being “too late,” keeping interest rates too high, and overspending on the Fed’s renovation, the president added, “That goes for his board too, because his board is not doing the job, because they should try to rein this guy in.”

It got us thinking. If firing Powell, whose term as chair expires in May 2026, is too dramatic a step for Trump or for the financial markets, maybe the president—and Congress, which has the monetary policy power under the Constitution—can address the situation by adjusting the Fed’s board of governors.