Fed chief Powell to lead final policy meeting as his tenure nears its end amid Trump’s pressure

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to helm what is officially his final policy meeting on Tuesday, ending his eight-year tenure defined by economic shocks, monetary intervention, and political battles, especially amid the pressure of US President Donald Trump.

Powell will preside over the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of his tenure expiring on May 15.

However, Powell may be forced to remain as interim chair due to a political deadlock in the Senate over his Trump-tapped successor Kevin Warsh.

Trump appointed Powell in 2018 and former President Joe Biden re-nominated him in 2022.

The 73-year-old former investment banker is the only Fed chair in nearly 40 years without an economic degree, as he is instead from a background in politics and law.

Throughout Trump’s second term in office, Powell endured outright insults on his person and was accused of being too late on rate cuts amid Trump’s pressure to assert his influence over the Fed.

Powell steered the American economy through unprecedented levels of volatility throughout his leadership of the Fed, overseeing a historic monetary easing campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which economic activity grounded to a halt and layoffs reached peak levels, prompting the Fed to end its expansionary policies in 2019.

When Powell retook office in February 2018, the US inflation was at 2.3% and the policy rate was in the range of 1.25-1.5%.

The Fed slashed rates to near-zero in March 2020, while making large-scale asset purchases to inject trillions into the market.

However, these expansionary policies, as well as the post-pandemic supply chain issues and the Russia–Ukraine war which started in February 2022, led inflation to reach its 41-year high at 9% in mid-2022 versus 0.2% in May 2020.

The Fed issued 11 rate hikes and pushed the policy rate to a 22-year high of 5.25-5.5% to crush runaway prices under Powell’s rule.

The Fed’s benchmark rate sits at 3.5-3.74%, and inflation hovers at 3.3% as of March 2026, while the US unemployment rate is at 4.3% amid renewed pressures due to Trump’s massive tariffs and the ongoing energy shock driven by the Middle East war.

The bank’s balance sheet grew from $4.4 trillion at the start of 2018 to a peak of around $9 trillion in 2022 amid pandemic-related interventions, while standing at around $6.7 trillion as of April 2026.

Powell’s tenure draws to close

The Fed chair’s final months have been riddled with Trump’s hostilities, especially after Powell refused to oblige to the White House’s aggressive demands for premature rate cuts.

This led Powell to face massive public criticism and a myriad of legal investigations the Trump administration initiated.

The transition of power at the Fed is currently under pressure and effectively paralyzed due to these investigations.

Senate lawmakers, including some Republicans, refused to schedule a confirmation vote for Trump’s pick Kevin Warsh until ⁠his administration drops the investigations into the Fed.

Attorney General Jeanine Pirro said she closed a controversial probe by the Justice Department into the Fed over the building renovations overruns on April 24, transferring the matter to the inspector general.

Lawmakers are still hesitant to move forward until a separate and currently unresolved case targeting Fed Board Member Lisa Cook is also dropped.

Powell said he is ready to serve as interim chair if Warsh is not confirmed by May 15, but he also reminded that his separate seat on the Fed’s Board of Governors does not expire until January 2028, adding that he will not step down from the board until the probes into his conduct are concluded, defying Trump’s direct threats to remove him.

* Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul