Kudlow Says The White House Is Not Considering Demoting Fed Chair Powell Right Now

President Donald Trump is not currently considering removing Jerome Powell as head of the Federal Reserve, despite persistent White House criticism of the way the central bank is handling monetary policy, one of the president's top advisors said.

Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said Trump is not planning to demote Powell. A Bloomberg News report Tuesday morning said the White House had looked at such a move in February.

Kudlow refused to confirm or deny the report but said it is no longer relevant.

"It's a six-month-old story," he told reporters. "It allegedly happened six months ago and it's not happening today and therefore I have nothing to say about it. It is what it is."

Amid multiple reports that Trump is not happy with Powell, the Fed chair himself has pushed back on the notion of him being removed from his post, saying that he can be dismissed only for cause.

Trump has been unhappy with the Fed for raising interest rates. The central bank approved four hikes in 2018, though markets expect up to three cuts by the end of 2019.

However, it's unclear what removing Powell would accomplish. All of the rate hikes during his tenure were approved with broad-based support from the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee.

WATCH: Markets could drop 10% in a day if Trump demoted Powell, says expert

RECENT NEWS

Stocks Rise After Better-than-expected Jobs Report To Close Out Winning Week

Stocks rose on Thursday following a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report as the economy tries to recover from the coron... Read more

Record Jobs Gain Of 4.8 Million In June Smashes Expectations; Unemployment Rate Falls To 11.1%

Another big contributor to the decline of the jobless rate was a plunge in those on temporary layoff. That total fell by... Read more

17.6 Million Unemployed Americans Probably Won't Return To Their Pre-pandemic Jobs

The share of the workforce currently out of work with no reasonable chance of returning to their jobs is about 11%, or a... Read more

GM, Fiat Chrysler U.S. Auto Sales Tank In Second Quarter As Coronavirus Saps Demand

U.S. vehicle sales in the second quarter for General Motors, Toyota Motor and Fiat Chrysler plunged by more than 30% Read more

Mortgage Demand Falls For The Second Straight Week, Signaling A Potential Slowdown In The Housing Recovery

The surge in mortgage demand from homebuyers over the past two months appears to be waning, even as mortgage rates conti... Read more

Fed's Bullard Warns Of Financial Crisis Risks As Virus Cases Spike, FT Reports

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president James Bullard has warned that a growing number of bankruptcies due to the coron... Read more