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Fed up: Jerome Powell's rough road

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The life of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is going from bad to worse. Trump is furious that Powell is raising interest rates quickly and even called the Fed the "biggest threat" to a booming economy.

What's happening: According to a source familiar with Trump's thinking, the president feels the only way to get his message to Powell is by bashing him in the media. And I've heard nothing to suggest Trump will back off these attacks.

Another problem for the Fed: Trump's nominee for the central bank's board of governors, Nellie Liang, has significant problems with Republicans and may not even make it to the Senate floor for a vote.

  • A number of key Republican senators, including Pat Toomey on the Senate Banking Committee, have expressed doubts about her.
  • Liang favors strong regulations on banks and is a Democrat. It's unclear whether she can even make it out of committee.

The bottom line: "There's a better chance of seeing Elvis than of seeing her on the Fed," a source close to Republican leadership told me. Mitch McConnell is "not going to call a vote on somebody who has no support among Republicans. That's not how Mitch works."

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Jerome Powell