Apple News Today
Will the Supreme Court allow Trump to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell?
Tue, 22 Apr 2025
A number of agencies, like the Federal Reserve, operate independently from the party ruling Washington. The Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip explains how a Supreme Court case could challenge that precedent. NPR’s Jasmine Garsd explains why some immigrant and mixed-status families are considering self-deportation. Bloomberg’s Josh Sisco joins to discuss a major antitrust case against Google. Plus, the Supreme Court weighs in on certain books in schools, the dollar falls to a three-year low, and how renewable energy is winning on Earth Day. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Who is discussing President Trump's intentions about Fed Chair Jerome Powell?
Good morning. It's Tuesday, April 22nd. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, why some immigrants are considering self-deportation, Google might have to break up its businesses, and on Earth Day, a look at how clean energy is winning. But first, President Trump is suggesting he wants to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Here he is talking with reporters last week.
If I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me.
Trump has called Powell a major loser and has said that Powell's termination cannot come fast enough. The thing is, the Federal Reserve is one of a few government agencies designed to be entirely independent. The idea is that it allows them to do their work untouched by political pressures. But that could soon change.
The Supreme Court is addressing a question about whether the president can fire members of independent agencies for anything other than cause.
That's The Wall Street Journal's chief economics commentator, Greg Ip.
If they do, then in theory, the president would be able to fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve. And the Fed chairman would effectively, instead of being an independent central banker, become an at-will employee of the president, like any cabinet secretary.
The case before the court is called Trump v. Wilcox. It's being heard as part of what's known as the shadow docket, meaning there are no oral arguments and little public visibility into what each side is arguing or how the justices are thinking about the issue. Now, for some backstory here, Powell was appointed by Trump during his first term. He was then reappointed by President Biden.
His term doesn't run out until next May, and he's repeatedly said he has no plans to resign before 2026. But he and Trump have bumped heads. Powell has been critical of Trump's tariffs, saying they will likely cause both higher prices and slower economic growth. Trump is upset that Powell hasn't cut interest rates.
The Fed's role is to keep inflation low and employment levels high, not to keep politicians or even presidents happy. If the court overturns the legal precedent that keeps the Fed politically independent and makes it so that a Fed chair can be fired by the president, Ip says that could potentially affect how the chair sets policy.
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