Amid legal scrutiny, Powell reveals what would force him to step down

As political pressure and legal scrutiny mount, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has made clear what will force him to resign.

Powell, who holds one of the most influential positions in U.S. economic policy, has made clear he will not step down without violating the law.

This position is detailed in an excerpt from “Trillion Dollar Triage,” in which Wall Street Journal economics correspondent Nick Timiraos chronicles Powell’s measured public responses and more outspoken private reactions to Trump’s persistent threats to fire him.

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Powell’s commitment to the Fed, amid growing criticism from Trump, became evident in 2019 during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing. Asked by the Democratic representative of California. Maxine Waters On what he would do if Trump fired him, Powell said he would continue to serve his four-year term.

Privately, Timiraos said, Powell was more outspoken about his determination to continue leading the world’s most influential central bank.

“I will never, ever leave this position voluntarily until the end of my term, regardless of the circumstances. None, at all,” Powell said. “You won’t see me get in the lifeboat,” he said, invoking a metaphor to signal his determination to stay the course.

“It doesn’t occur to me at all that there would be a situation in which I would not end my term other than by dying,” Powell said, according to Timiraos.

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US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was nominated by President Donald Trump for the position in 2017. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Powell’s long-standing insistence on finishing his term, which ends in May, now comes amid a Justice Department criminal investigation into his congressional testimony on the renovation of Federal Reserve headquarters.

Powell confirmed the investigation and said he respected the rule of law and congressional oversight, but called the action “unprecedented” and driven by political pressure.

“This new threat is not about my testimony last June or the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings,” Powell said in a video statement Sunday evening.

“The threat of criminal prosecution is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the president’s preferences,” he added.

The White House referred questions to the Justice Department. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

FEDERAL RESERVE PRESIDENT POWELL UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER HQ RENOVATION

President Donald Trump toured the ongoing renovation of the central bank’s headquarters in 2025 with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. (Official White House photo by Daniel Torok)

The project to update the The Federal Reserve two major office buildings in Washington, D.C.’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood are expected to cost $2.5 billion and will be financed by the central bank, not taxpayers. The Fed finances its operations without appropriations from Congress, deriving its revenue primarily from interest on government securities and fees charged to financial institutions.

In June 2025, Powell told members of the Senate Banking Committee: “There is no new marble. There are no special elevators.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has formally asked the central bank’s inspector general to review the $2.5 billion renovation of his building, according to a spokesperson for the IG’s office. (Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Powell also told lawmakers that no one “wants to do a major renovation of a historic building while in office.”

“We decided to do it because, honestly, when I was administrative governor, before I became president, I realized how much the Eccles Building really needed a serious renovation,” Powell said, adding that the building was “not really safe” and was not watertight.

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The grand atrium of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building during a media tour of the central bank’s headquarters renovation in Washington, DC, July 24, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

He also said the cost overruns are due, in part, to unexpected construction issues and the country’s inflation rate.

The project is expected to be completed in fall 2027, and Washington-based employees are expected to begin work on the building in March 2028.