Jun 18, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Report: White House considered "legality of demoting" Fed Chair

Jerome Powell and President Trump. Photos: Scott Olson/Getty Images and Alex Wong/Getty Images

The White House considered the "legality of demoting" Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in February, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The big picture: This, according to anonymous sources, reportedly took place after Trump discussed firing Powell last year following frustrations with the central bank's interest rate increases, per another Bloomberg scoop. Toward the end of 2018, Trump briefly mused about whether he could replace Powell with Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor and aide to President George W. Bush.

Details: The White House counsel's office "studied whether Powell could be stripped of his chairmanship but remain a board member," Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs reports. Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Bloomberg that the administration is not currently considering the issue.

Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith, in an email to Bloomberg: “Under the law, a Federal Reserve Board chair can only be removed for cause.”

Go deeper: Fed chair Jerome Powell denies Trump influenced interest rate decisions

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Fadel Allassan

30 mins ago - Health

4 former CDC heads say Trump's undermining of agency puts lives at risk

CDC director Robert Redfield and President Trump. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Four former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blasted the Trump administration's "repeated efforts to subvert" agency guidelines related to reopening schools, accusing the White House in a scathing Washington Post op-ed of undermining science with "partisan potshots."

Why it matters: The directors, Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan and David Satcher and acting head Richard Besser, served in parts of the Obama, Bush and Clinton administrations. They said they "cannot recall over our collective tenure a single time when political pressure led to a change in the interpretation of scientific evidence."

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Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian

49 mins ago - World

Chinese students at U.S. colleges face deep uncertainty

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

A new visa guideline issued last week would strip international students in the U.S. of their student visa if their college classes are online-only amid the pandemic.

Why it matters: More than 360,000 Chinese students are enrolled at U.S. colleges. Many of them could be forced to return to China if the rule change is implemented.

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Fadel Allassan

1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Pelosi "absolutely" would skip August recess to reach coronavirus stimulus deal

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNN on Tuesday she would "absolutely" be willing to forgo the House's August recess to reach a deal for another relief package to help the country battle the health and economic crises caused by the coronavirus.

The big picture: Pelosi indicated the package would earmark money for coronavirus testing and contact tracing, as well as assistance for state and local governments whose budgets are in dire financial straits due to revenue shortfalls caused by the recession.