BOSTON — Former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Sunday at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library that any administration that succeeds in removing Fed officials over policy disagreements would shatter the public's confidence in the central bank, his first public remarks since stepping down as chair on May 15.
Powell, accepting the 2026 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, framed the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the Fed as part of a broader political "stress test" facing American institutions, including the courts and universities. He did not name President Trump.
What Powell said
"If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well," Powell said. "The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what's best for all Americans."
Powell said Congress had "wisely" insulated the central bank from political pressure and that other advanced economies maintained similar norms. He warned that the Fed's credibility, built over decades, could be "lost" if officials were removed for setting interest rates an administration disliked.
"Democratic institutions take much time, effort, and patience to build but can be torn down all too quickly," Powell said.
The pressure campaign
Powell cataloged the actions taken against him and the board during his final months as chair. The White House publicly urged his resignation. Federal prosecutors in January opened a criminal investigation into the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed's Washington headquarters, a probe that was dropped in April. Powell has previously said the inquiry stemmed from Trump's frustration with the pace and size of Fed rate cuts.
Trump appointee Jeanine Pirro opened a short-lived criminal investigation into Powell's congressional testimony about the renovations, Al Jazeera reported. Trump also ordered the removal of Fed Governor Lisa Cook over what Al Jazeera described as unproven claims of mortgage fraud. The Supreme Court is currently considering a legal challenge to her firing, having ruled that Cook may remain in her seat in the meantime.
Under the Federal Reserve Act, a president must demonstrate "cause," widely interpreted to mean malfeasance, to remove a Fed governor.
A broader argument
Powell used the Kennedy Library platform to extend his case beyond monetary policy. Partisan political differences, he said, are normal and indeed essential in a thriving democracy, but Americans ought to be united in their commitment to the higher principles that define the nation. Citing John Adams, Powell said the country was built as "a government of laws and not of men."
He also tied the Fed's credibility to its economic mandate. "That credibility enables the Fed to support a strong and stable economy for the benefit of American families and businesses," Powell said. "Our credibility has been built and sustained over many decades, and we have a duty to safeguard that priceless asset for our fellow citizens and for generations to come."
Powell's successor as chair, Kevin Warsh, was sworn in on May 22. Powell is staying on as a member of the seven-seat Board of Governors, the conventional path for departing chairs.
The counterpoint
Trump and senior White House officials did not publicly respond to Powell's remarks by press time, and no administration figure or Republican lawmaker was quoted in the body-tier coverage. The president's case against the Fed, as previously reported by CNBC, has centered on the contention that the central bank refused to cut interest rates at the pace and volume he wanted. The Cook removal order remains in litigation, and Trump has not retracted his earlier calls for Powell's resignation.
The Profile in Courage Award, created in 1989 and named for President Kennedy's Pulitzer-winning book, has previously gone to former President Barack Obama, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.