Jerome Powell ends term as Federal Reserve chief clouded by Trump tumult

Jerome Powell’s stint leading the Federal Reserve is finished, but his battle with President Trump is far from over.

Powell’s second four-year term as chair of the Fed board ended Friday, two days after his successor, Kevin Warsh, was confirmed by the Senate as the bank’s next chief.

After leading the bank for the past eight years through a series of political and economic crises, Powell is handing over the reins of the Fed to Warsh while pledging to keep a low profile.

Even so, his decision to stay on the Fed board after the end of his chairmanship could keep Powell in Trump’s crosshairs and define his legacy at the bank.

Though Powell’s term as Fed chair ended Friday, his separate 14-year term as a member of the Fed board does not expire until January 2028. While the vast majority of his predecessors left the bank upon the end of their chairmanships, Powell said he would remain at the Fed until he was confident that the bank had fought off the Trump administration’s attacks on its independence.

“I had long planned to be retiring,” said Powell, 72, last month at his final press conference as Fed chair. “The things that have happened in the last three months have, I think, left me with no choice but to stay until I see them through.”

Trump’s pressure on Powell backfires

As Trump’s first year back in the White House wound down, the president seemed ready to move on from his feud with Powell with a newly nominated Fed chief.

Unlike several of Trump’s first-term Fed nominees, Warsh had the unanimous support of Republican senators. The early resignation of former Fed board member Adriana Kugler also gave Trump more flexibility........

© The Hill