\u201cWhat can I say, I\u2019m just a catty Deadhead from DC and I live for drama\u201d\u2014Jerome Powell, probably.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not often that a Federal Reserve meeting and the words \u201cI live for drama<\/a>\u201d are invoked in the same sentence, but it\u2019s also not often that, well, anything that\u2019s happening<\/a> at the Fed right now is ever happening.<\/p>\n During the Fed\u2019s Wednesday press conference, Powell\u2019s last as chair, plenty of folks tuned in to hear the central bank\u2019s interest rate decision (unchanged), but the drama-loving among us also wanted some gossip: Would he stay or would he go?<\/p>\n Though Powell\u2019s tenure as chair will end on May 15, he\u2019s always had the option to remain a Fed governor until 2028.<\/p>\n Adding to the drama: The confirmation process for incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh was stalled by a Justice Department investigation into comments from Powell last summer concerning a Federal Reserve building renovation project.<\/p>\n Critics of the probe have claimed the investigation was politically motivated. President Donald Trump has long tried to sway the historically independent Fed\u2019s decision-making.<\/p>\n Previously, Powell said he had \u201cno intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality.\u201d<\/p>\n But wait: On April 24, the DOJ dropped its criminal investigation of Powell, clearing the way for Warsh\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n So\u2026will JPow leave the board? Can\u2019t you just feel the tension building? And like any good dramatist, Powell waited until the end of his prepared remarks on Wednesday to answer the question everyone really cared about.<\/p>\n News built for finance pros<\/p>\n CFO Brew helps finance pros navigate their roles with insights into risk management, compliance, and strategy through our newsletter, virtual events, and digital guides.<\/p>\n He brought the drama.<\/p>\n After revealing that he\u2019d stay on as governor \u201cfor a period of time to be determined,\u201d Powell said the developments of the last three months \u201cleft me no choice but to stay until I see them through at least that long.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI’m literally staying because of the actions that have been taken,\u201d he explained. \u201cI had long planned to be retiring.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about the criteria he weighed ahead of his decision, Powell didn\u2019t mince words.<\/p>\n \u201cMy concern is really about the series of legal attacks on the Fed, which threaten our ability to conduct monetary policy without considering political factors,\u201d he said, explaining that legal attacks were different from verbal criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cThese legal actions by the administration are unprecedented in our 113-year history,\u201d Powell continued. \u201cI worry that these attacks are battering the institution and putting at risk the thing that really matters to the public, which is the ability to conduct monetary policy without taking into consideration political factors.\u201d<\/p>\n So, how long is he sticking around? \u201cIn terms of when I would leave, I will leave when I think it\u2019s appropriate to do so,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n Spoken like a true catty Deadhead who lives for drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat can I say, I\u2019m just a catty Deadhead from DC and I live for drama\u201d\u2014Jerome Powell, probably.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-420493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}