Trump's Fed Feud: Warsh Blocked, Powell Stays

0:00It's April 16th. This is Sydney News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. Trump's pushing hard to house better reserve chair, Jerome Powell saying he'll fire him if Powell doesn't step down when his term ends on May 15th. This comes from Trump's long grudge because the Fed won't slash interest rates like he wants to juice the economy. Earlier this week, Department of Justice Investigators showed up at the Fed's headquarters in Washington to dig into massive budget overruns on renovations there. Fed officials turned them away flat out, and many see this probe as just deployed to pressure Powell. The backlash is hitting Trump's pick to replace him, Kevin Warsh, who's up for Senate review next Tuesday. Key Republican Senator Tom Tillis says he'll block confirmation unless the investigation drops, and with a slim majority, that could stall. Everything, Powell plans to hang on as a board member until early 2028, citing Fed rules that let him stay till the successors in place.

1:00Even if Warsh gets the chair spot, rising inflation from tariffs and oil spiking over $100 a barrel makes rate cuts unlikely. Trump's feud keeps backfiring, blocking his Fed influence while Powell digs in. Markets stay steady for now, but any real threat to independence could rattle bonds as debt piles up.