Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that a “formal process” to find a successor for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has already started — as the Trump administration ratchets up pressure for the top central banker to step aside before his term ends.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell is resisting President Donald Trump’s calls for lower interest rates, saying the Fed should not take debt and deficits into account.

The White House accuses the Fed chair of potentially "violating the law" in his renovation of the central bank's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has the authority to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for cause if evidence supports that, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday and that the Fed "has a lot to answer for" on renovation cost overruns at its Washington headquarters.

The Fed’s prudent “wait-and-see” approach has the White House enraged. Trump has been very vocal that the politically independent central bank needs to slash the funds rate immediately by over 3%. This is to unleash what the president says is trillions of dollars in pent-up economic demand amidst somewhat stable inflation and job rates.

His comments follow President Donald Trump’s intensified criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, accusing him of undermining the US economy with high interest rates, while simultaneously unveiling sweeping new tariffs targeting Canada, the European Union, Mexico, and Brazil.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has asked an inspector general to review the cost of the central bank's building renovations that White House officials have attacked as “ostentatious.”

Jerome Powell has been the Federal Reserve Chair since February 2018. Trump nominated Powell in 2017, but now calls for him to resign. Bessent is