WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 10: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the Federal Open Markets Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve on December 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Fed announced it has lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent in the third rate cut this year. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesThe saga over President Donald Trump’s efforts to reshape the Federal Reserve has another twist to it revolving over whether current Chair Jerome Powell will leave after his term at the helm is finished.Powell is done as the central bank leader on May 15, and it’s highly likely Trump will nominate his successor long before then. In fact, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that the long-awaited pick could come as soon as next week.However, Powell’s 14-year term as governor stretches all the way to Jan. 31, 2028. Historical precedent has been for almost all outgoing Fed chairs to leave their governor roles as well, but Powell could decide to buck that pattern if he feels threats to central bank independence are stark enough to necessitate him staying. That’s what Marriner Eccles did in the late 1940s as he viewed his removal by then-President Harry Truman as a political move.Increasingly vocal Trump has gotten increasingly vocal about controlling the Fed. That has happened through persistent criticism of Powell and his colleagues, his own appointments, as well as saying that he thinks the president should be consulted on interest rate decisions.Some on Wall Street think the prospect of Trump gaining further control of the Fed Board of Governors and using that to steer monetary policy might convince Powell to stay on. Such s …
