SCOTUS Goes Out of Its Way to Reveal the One Man Trump Can’t Fire
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s term expires in 2026. And it appears he’ll be allowed to stay on until the end.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
The Supreme Court went out of its way to note in an unrelated ruling Thursday that President Donald Trump cannot legally remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
In a decision that did allow Trump to fire two members of independent federal labor boards, the high court said that the Federal Reserve, on the other hand, holds a different status.
“The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States,” the unsigned ruling stated.
Trump, who nominated Powell to the role in his first term, has occasionally criticized him for not lowering interest rates, and even said he wanted him removed from his post.
“Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough,” Trump wrote on social media in April.
Trump's attacks on Powell have caused markets to dip.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
In recent weeks, though, Trump has backed off these threats amid signs of uneasiness in financial markets—caused in part by fears that the president could harm the Federal Reserve’s functionality.
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For his part, Powell has said that if Trump were to fire him, it would not be legal. Powell’s term ends in 2026.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 order permits—for now—Trump’s removal of Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris, members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board, respectively.
Wilcox has three years left in her term, while Harris has four. Both appointees of former President Joe Biden were swept up in Trump’s massive cuts at administrative agencies earlier this year.
Powell has said he intends on serving out his term, which expires in 2026.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
The high court took an ax to a major precedent Thursday, which dates back to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt firing Federal Trade Commission member William Humphrey, an appointee of his Republican predecessor, Herbert Hoover. In 1935, the court prohibited the firing since it was due to politics and not for cause.
In her dissenting vote, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the court’s order “favors the president over our precedent.”
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