WASHINGTON, July 9 (Xinhua) -- White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Tuesday that U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's job is safe at the moment.
"I will say that there's no effort to remove him. I will say that unequivocally, at the present time, yes, he is safe," Kudlow, President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, said at CNBC's Capital Exchange event.
The Fed raised interest rates four times last year, drawing harsh criticism from the Trump administration, which has called on the central bank to lower interest rates.
The U.S. president said in late June that he didn't threaten to demote the Fed chair, but he'd be able to do that if he wanted. "He raised them far too fast," Trump said during an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" program, referring to Powell and the Fed's interest rate policy under his leadership.
Last week, Trump announced on Twitter that he intends to nominate Christopher Waller and Judy Shelton to the seven-member Federal Reserve Board. Shelton, a conservative economist who served as an economic advisor to Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign, has signaled her clear intention to lower the benchmark interest rate.
Kudlow said Friday that the U.S. central bank should "take back" the interest rate hike in December despite robust job data, citing the "rock-bottom" inflation rate.
In a report submitted to the U.S. Congress, the Fed said Friday that global and domestic economic uncertainties had increased in recent months, and that the central bank will "act as appropriate" to sustain economic expansion, signaling a possible rate cut in the near future.
Powell, who has defended the Fed's independence, is set to testify on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report before the Congress on Wednesday and Thursday.
