(WASHINGTON) — President Trump asked a group of Republican lawmakers how they felt about him firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and told them he would “likely” fire Powell “soon,” according to two White House officials and sources familiar with the Tuesday evening meeting.
The Republican lawmakers expressed their approval of Trump’s intention to fire him, according to the White House officials and sources on Wednesday.
According to one lawmaker in the room, President Trump made it clear he wanted Powell gone and signaled he could move in that direction, but the president was also responding to the reception from other Republicans who were on board with the idea.
Trump mentioned this meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday, saying he discussed the “concept of firing him.”
“I said, what do you think? Almost every one of them said I should, but I’m more conservative than they are,” Trump told reporters.
This development follows Trump’s ongoing pressure campaign to get Powell to lower interest rates. Powell has said the Fed would have cut rates by now if it weren’t for inflation concerns as the result of President Trump’s tariff policy.
While a decision on Powell could come at any time or not come at all, sources caution that a decision is not final until President Trump makes an announcement publicly.
Trump on Wednesday dismissed reports that he drafted a letter to fire Powell.
“Are you completely ruling out the idea of firing Jerome Powell?” a reporter asked Trump in the Oval Office.
“I don’t rule out anything, but I think it’s highly unlikely unless he has to leave for fraud,” Trump said.
Trump allies and top White House officials have been raising questions about the $2.5 billion dollar renovation of two historic Fed buildings on the National Mall, with some suggesting it could be weaponized against Powell to remove him from his role.
“We’re very concerned. He’s doing a little renovation for 2.5 billion of the Fed building — building a — a renovation, and they have a close to $900 million cost overrun. And it’s a shame, but the biggest cost overrun is the cost overrun for interest rates,” Trump said.
ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers asked Trump if he’s calling for an investigation into Powell.
Powell has requested a review of the Federal Reserve’s renovation project by the agency’s inspector general.
While many legal scholars argue that Trump does not have the authority to fire Powell, the Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett told Jon Karl on “This Week” on Sunday that he believes Trump can fire Powell if “there’s cause.”
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, took to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon to issue a stark warning against removing Powell.
“The consequence of firing a Fed chair just because political people don’t agree with that economic decision will be to undermine the credibility of the United States government going forward,” Tillis said. “And I would argue, if it happens, you’re going to see a pretty immediate response. We’ve got to avoid that.”
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
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