James Fishback, founder and CEO of the investment firm Azoria, said Friday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that President Donald Trump has a “unique opportunity” to appoint a new chairman of the Federal Reserve sooner than “everyone expects.”
Reports of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell potentially being replaced have circulated, with Trump’s top economic adviser Kevin Hassett and former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh reportedly among the top contenders. After highlighting a recent call for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Powell for alleged perjury, Fox’s Laura Ingraham asked Fishback whether the vocal criticism of the Fed chairman “has made any difference.”
“I think it has because what the president has a unique opportunity of doing on top of building this incredible economy that works for everyone is he can actually appoint a Fed chair a lot sooner than everyone expects,” Fishback said. “Now markets, as an investor, they are an expectations game. So when you get a Fed chair, even if they don’t take office until May of next year, if you appoint a Fed chair in the early fall, the market will listen to them as opposed to Jerome Powell.”
On Thursday, Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna announced on X that she is referring Powell to the DOJ to investigate alleged perjury related to the Fed’s more than $2 billion headquarters renovation project. The move comes after calls for Powell to be investigated began in July, with Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte calling on Congress to launch the investigation. RELATED: ‘The Way The Fed Operates Is All Wrong’: Steve Forbes Tells Fed Not To Neglect ‘Its Sole Focus’
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Soon after calls for an investigation into Powell’s $2.5 billion headquarters renewal project, Trump reposted an article about the issue on Truth Social and wrote that Powell should “resign immediately.”
“This is the same Jerome Powell that cut rates by 50 points right before the election in a desperate attempt to Kamala Harris to help her. Of course, it didn’t work. President Trump won a historic landslide. But now he refuses to raise rates even though inflation is lower today than it was then,” Fishback added.
Tensions between Powell and the president have grown as the central bank has yet to lower interest rates, despite Trump’s calls to do so while pointing to falling inflation.
Since Trump’s announcement of sweeping reciprocal tariffs against a handful of countries, Powell has voiced concerns about the uncertainty they could cause. On July 1, Powell told a panel that the U.S. central bank would have lowered rates by now if Trump had not imposed the tariffs.
“So the president is using his First Amendment rights. He’s calling out the Fed chair for being intransigent, for being too late. But my recommendation to the president would be to appoint a Fed chair far earlier than anyone expects so ‘Too Late’s’ voice can be totally nullified,” Fishback said, referring to a nickname Trump gave Powell.
Prior to Luna’s referral, Powell on Monday requested a review of the project, asking Fed IG Michael Horowitz to investigate the costs and any other matters deemed appropriate, according to Axios.
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