Scott Horsley

They haven't all found their way into consumer prices.

Powell thinks we are going to see some more tariff-related price hikes in the coming months.

But after that, inflation might settle down unless we get a whole bunch of new tariffs.

Not a whole lot, at least yet.

Trump has tried to fire a member of the Fed's governing board.

He's threatened to fire Powell himself.

The Justice Department even launched an investigation of the Fed over the cost of a building project here in Washington.

although Powell says that was really just a pretext and another way to put pressure on the central bank.

By design, the Fed is supposed to be insulated from that kind of political influence.

Powell says history shows central banks do a better job of fighting inflation when they're not under the thumb of elected leaders.

That's because politicians will almost always favor lower interest rates to juice the economy before the next election, even if higher rates might be better for the long-term health of the economy.

Not yet.

The president is expected to nominate a new Fed chairman pretty soon.

Powell's term is up in May, so he's got two more rate-setting meetings before he gives up his leadership post.

Trump clearly wants a replacement who will push for lower interest rates.

And whoever the president chooses is going to face questions about

whether they can act independently or if they're simply going to do Trump's bidding.

One thing to keep in mind, though, the Fed chair is just one vote among 12 people on the rate-setting committee, and that person may have limited sway over his colleagues.

Trump named a White House economist, Stephen Myron, to the Fed board last fall.

Myron voted at three straight meetings for a supersized half-point rate cut, but none of his colleagues went along.