Administration

Yellen calls Trump’s Powell investigation ‘most disturbing’

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by Sophie Brams - 05/01/26 5:04 PM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 05/01/26 5:04 PM ET

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Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who also served as chair of the Federal Reserve, ripped the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into her successor, Jerome Powell, on Thursday as a “disturbing” attack on the Fed’s independence.

“I think what President Trump is doing is unprecedented, and the most recent and most disturbing, in a way, is what he’s done to Chair Powell in really weaponizing the Department of Justice against him in order to try to induce him to leave,” Yellen told host Erin Burnett during an interview on CNN.

Powell’s term as chair expires May 15, but he told reporters on Wednesday that he plans to remain as a governor at the central bank for an undetermined amount of time due to what he believes are ongoing legal threats against the institution. His term as a Fed board member expires in January 2028.

“I worry that these attacks are battering the institution and putting at risk the thing that really matters to the public, which is the ability to conduct monetary policy without taking into consideration political factors,” he said during a press conference on the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady.

Yellen, who resigned from the central bank during Trump’s first term after he decided not to reappoint her, praised Powell’s decision to stay on.

“This is something he’s doing to protect the independence of the Fed, and I can’t stress how important that is,” she said, framing the move as vital to economic stability.

“By in large, the Fed has done a good job, and politics doesn’t enter its decision making,” the former secretary continued. “And now you have a situation where members of the policy-setting committee have to worry that if they make decisions that President Trump doesn’t like, they could have the DOJ weaponized against them.”

Some uncertainty over the status of the investigation into Powell and his handling of Fed building renovations — which began in December — emerged late last week after U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro announced the DOJ was dropping its probe.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt later claimed the case was “not necessarily dropped” but rather shifted to another office.

“It’s just being moved over to the inspector general, who has critical tools at their disposal to continue to look into the financial mismanagement at the Fed,” Leavitt said. “It’s just under a different authority, and that’s what you’ll continue to see.”

The investigation had stalled the confirmation of Trump’s pick to replace Powell, Kevin Warsh, as Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) vowed to block the nomination until the administration dropped its criminal case.

Tillis lifted his opposition following Pirro’s announcement, clearing the way for Warsh’s nomination to advance out of the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday. It is now headed to the full Senate for a vote.

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