In his first term, President Donald Trump toyed with ousting Jerome Powell out of anger that the Federal Reserve chair was moving too slowly to cut interest rates. Trump refrained from doing so, but continued to publicly attack Powell and his colleagues for keeping borrowing costs too high.

President Donald Trump could be setting up Fed Chair Jerome Powell as a 'scapegoat' if a recession hits, according to an MSU economist.

Most legal scholars agree that Trump can’t fire Powell from the Fed’s board of governors, and there is no legal precedent for doing so. However, there is less agreement over whether a president can remove him as chair.