The Trump-appointed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency has ignited an intragovernmental civil war with a series of tweets calling for the resignation of the Federal Reserve chair.
Businessman Bill Pulte launched his campaign against Jerome Powell on Wednesday with a tirade calling on Powell to lower interest rates, shortly before it was announced that the Federal Reserve would not be changing interest rates this month.
He wrote, “Because President Trump has crushed inflation, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell needs to lower interest rates today, and if not Chairman Powell needs to resign, immediately. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can help so many more Americans if Chair Powell will just do his job and lower rates.”
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Over the course of the next day, Pulte posted an additional eight tweets calling on Powell to resign. In one, he used his position as chairman of government-backed mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to point the finger at Powell’s failure to lower interest rates that is hurting the housing market.
In another, he claimed that Powell had no clue what he could do for the housing market and was “not listening to the people who help lead“ it. As a result, needed to resign.
In response to an article from The Hill about his crusade, Pulte explained his repeated calls for Powell to resign. “He is hurting Americans and hurting the mortgage market, which I am responsible for regulating.”
The latest conflict comes as Republicans find themselves embroiled in another civil war over the Trump administration’s handling of the Israel-Iran conflict, with figures like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon urging Trump to avoid involving the U.S. in another war in the Middle East.
Pulte was eventually joined by President Donald Trump, who posted on TruthSocial, “Too Late—Powell is the WORST. A real dummy, who’s costing America $Billions!”
Trump followed with a longer missive, writing on Thursday morning, “‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell is costing our Country Hundreds of Billions of Dollars. He is truly one of the dumbest, and most destructive, people in Government, and the Fed Board is complicit. Europe has had 10 cuts, we have had none. We should be 2.5 Points lower, and save $BILLIONS on all of Biden’s Short Term Debt. We have LOW inflation! TOO LATE’s an American Disgrace!”
Trump nominated Powell for the position of chairman in 2017, breaking from tradition by naming a new appointee rather than reappointing the previous chair, Janet Yellen. Powell was then nominated to a second term by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Pulte, meanwhile, was nominated to the role of director for FHFA in January, and was confirmed in March. Soon after being sworn in, he ousted several board members and named himself chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He also appointed a SpaceX employee to the board of Fannie Mae and placed 35 workers on administrative leave without advance notice.
Powell had responded negatively to Trump’s proposed tariff scheme earlier this year, cautioning that it could lead to higher inflation and slower growth. This prompted Trump to post on TruthSocial, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” while also telling reporters in the Oval Office, “If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me.”
Despite these threats, according to The New York Times, the president is aware that attempting to remove Powell from his position could further damage an already volatile market. While Federal Reserve chairs are nominated by the president, as Powell was by Trump in 2017, the question of whether they can then be removed by the president is a legally complex and politically fraught one; Trump firing Powell could be seen as compromising the political independence of the Federal Reserve.
Of the Federal Reserve’s decision, Powell said on Wednesday that he and his colleagues preferred to keep interest rates unchanged as they wait to see the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs.
At a press conference, Powell said, “It takes some time for tariffs to work their way through the chain of distribution to the end consumer.“ He continued, ”We’re beginning to see some effects, and we do expect to see more of them over coming months.”
