Fed Chairman Powell says won't step down if Trump asks him to leave

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says he won't step down from his position if President-elect Donald Trump asks him to do so.

“No,” he said Thursday when asked about the matter during a news conference.

Powell also said presidents removing members of the Fed is "not permitted under the law."

He joined the Fed's Board of Governors after being nominated by Democrat President Barack Obama in 2012. Trump nominated Powell in 2017 as Fed chair during his first term as president. President Biden, when he took office in 2021, renominated Powell to the position.