Scott Bessent Offers Support To Jerome Powell Amid Attacks From President Trump, Others

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday lent support to Jerome Powell amid attacks from President Donald Trump and others in the administration, saying he does not see any reason for the Federal Reserve Chair to step down.

In an interview on Fox Business, Bessent batted for Powell to see his term through, while calling for a review of the Fed’s non-monetary policy functions.

“His term ends in May. If he wants to see that through, I think he should. If he wants to leave early, I think he should,” Bessent said.

The Treasury Secretary also added that the Fed has “just grown and grown and grown. And this is what happens when you don’t have oversight.”

“They just print money to spend it. And I think a thorough review should be done.”

Meanwhile, U.S. equities appear poised for a weak opening on Tuesday as investors weigh the impact of the Trump administration reigniting tariff concerns by saying more letters could be sent out before the August 1 deadline.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which mirrors the S&P 500 index, was up 0.07% at the time of writing during the pre-market session, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which mirrors the Nasdaq, was flat. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ territory.

This comes after Bessent called for a review of the Fed’s $2.5 billion building renovation project and other non-monetary activities.

To add to Powell’s woes, the Trump administration has ramped up its rhetoric against the Fed Chair.

President Trump, himself, has repeatedly called out Powell for not cutting interest rates – a key bone of contention between the two. He stated that the Fed Chair’s decision to keep interest rates high is costing the U.S. more than $1 trillion per year.

Meanwhile, Powell said on Tuesday that it is essential to ensure large banks are well-capitalized and that their risks are well-managed.

“We need large banks to be free to compete with one another, with nonbank financial firms, and with banks in other jurisdictions to provide capital and support economic growth,” Powell said in opening remarks at the Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference in Washington, D.C.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

Also See: Nvidia, Snowflake Invest $110M In Newly-Minted Unicorn Reka AI