Jerome Powell and President Donald Trump announce the nomination in the Rose Garden of the White House on Thursday, November 2, 2017 in Washington, DC, United States.
Andrew Haller | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell Policy conflicts may arise in 2025, depending on how the economic situation develops.
If the economy overheats and inflation spikes again, Powell and his colleagues may decide to halt efforts to lower interest rates. That in turn could anger Trump, who spent his first term blasting Fed officials, including Powell, for not easing monetary policy quickly enough.
“There’s no doubt about it,” Joseph Lavonia, former chief economist at the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term, said when asked about the possibility of conflict. “When they don’t know what to do, they often do nothing. That could be a problem. If the president feels that interest rates should be lowered, will the Fed act in the public eye?”
Although Powell Become Chairman of the Federal Reserve After Trump nominated him to the post in 2018, the two clashed frequently over the direction of interest rates.
Trump is open and aggressive scold the chairhe in turn responded that this was important for The Fed must remain independent Except for political pressures, even if those pressures come from the president.
The two will operate in a different context when Trump takes office in January. During the first term, there was almost no inflation, which meant that even Fed raises interest rates Keep the benchmark interest rate well below where it is now.
Trump is planning both Expansionary and protectionist fiscal policiesThis is even more true than during his last campaign, which will include a round of tougher tariffs, lower taxes and huge spending. If the results start to show up in the data, Fed Chairman Powell may be inclined to adopt a more hawkish monetary policy on inflation.
Lavogna, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities who is rumored to serve in the new government, believes this is wrong.
“They’re going to look at the very unconventional policy approach proposed by Trump, but from a very traditional economic perspective,” he said. “The Fed is going to face a very difficult choice based on its traditional way of doing things.”
Market interest rate cuts are smaller
Futures traders have been hesitant in recent days over expectations for the Fed’s next move.
Markets are pricing in the possibility of another rate cut in December, which was all but certain a week ago, according to CME Group. FedWatch. Further pricing points to the equivalent of a quarter of a percentage point drop by the end of 2025, which is also significantly lower than previously expected.
Investors have been nervous about the Fed’s intentions in recent days. Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman noted on Wednesday that progress on inflation has “stalled,” suggesting she may continue to push for a slower pace of rate cuts.
“All roads lead to tensions between the White House and the Fed,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. “It’s not just the White House. It’s going to be the intersection of Treasury, Commerce and the Fed.”
Indeed, Trump is assembling a team of loyalists to implement his economic agenda, but success will depend largely on accommodative or at least accurate monetary policy that does not push or constrain too hard economic growth. For the Fed, this manifests itself as a search for “neutral” interest rates, but for the new administration, it could mean something different.
Brussulas said the debate over interest rate levels would create “political and policy tensions between the Fed and the White House, which is clearly more inclined to lower rates.”
“If you’re imposing tariffs, right, or mass deportations, then you’re limiting aggregate supply while at the same time having deficit fiscal tax cuts that encourage an increase in aggregate demand. There’s a fundamental inconsistency in your policy matrix,” he added. “The inevitable crossroads will lead to tensions between Trump and Powell.”
avoid conflict
To be sure, there are factors that can ease tensions.
One is that Powell’s terminology is chairman of the fed The bill is set to expire in early 2026, so Trump may simply choose to ride it out until he can appoint someone more to his liking as chairman. Barring some highly unexpected event that could push up inflation, the likelihood that the Fed will actually raise interest rates is slim.
Additionally, it will take some time for Trump’s policies to work their way through the system, so any impact on inflation and macroeconomic growth may not be apparent in the data, so the Fed won’t need to respond. It’s also possible that the impact won’t be that big either way.
“I expect inflation to rise and growth to slow,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “I think the eviction tariffs will have a negative supply shock. They will hurt growth and push inflation higher.” “Fed There will still be interest rate cuts next year, but they may not be as fast as they would have been.”
Well, assuming Trump doesn’t reappoint Powell, the fight with Trump could create even more headaches for the next Fed chair.
“So I don’t think this will be an issue in 2025,” Zandi said. “That could become an issue in 2026 because by then, the rate cuts are over and the Fed may actually need to start raising rates. That’s when it will become an issue.”
