No one's happier about calls for a 'backseat Fed' than Fed insiders who were targeted by the White House this year | Fortune

"Armed with a disputed list of costs for Fed building renovations, President Trump said that "generally" speaking he would fire a project manager who had gone over budget. The Fed's Powell, looking visibly uncomfortable, had already provided a breakdown explaining that the project was on track, and he highlighted that Trump had included in his costings a building which was already complete."

"The image summed up the conversations (off the record and, in recent months, increasingly nervously) I regularly have with sources-either within the Fed or at agencies working closely with the financial institution. In my catch-ups with these 10 or so people since January, their mood has shifted. Early on, there was optimism that the focus of politicians would pass (as it so often does). But as the months rolled by, they mentally battened down their hatches against an onslaught of insults, scrutiny, and unprecedented criticism."

President Trump visited the Federal Reserve in July with a disputed list of building renovation costs and threatened to fire a project manager alleged to have gone over budget. Jerome Powell provided a breakdown showing the project was on track and noted that Trump had included a building already complete. The Chairman and the President stood side-by-side in hard hats, publicly bickering. The visit was only the fourth in U.S. history and broke a tradition meant to avoid interference. Fed staff shifted from initial optimism to preparing for persistent insults, scrutiny, and unprecedented criticism. In the run-up to the election, Trump accused Powell of acting politically by lowering rates to help Biden, while Vice President JD Vance lobbied for more political control over the base interest rate. Some economists later echoed calls for the FOMC to cut rates.

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