A federal judge quashed the Department of Justice’s attempt to subpoena Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, saying the effort was part of the Trump administration’s effort to pressure Powell to lower interest rates.
Judge James Boasberg wrote a ruling for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that referenced President Donald Trump’s repeated taunts against the chairman of the United States’ central bank to force Powell into lowering interest rates. Some have complained that Trump is using the DOJ to enact revenge on his political enemies.
The U.S. attorney’s office for Washington had sought to subpoena Powell in relation to roughly $3 billion renovations to the Federal Reserve’s offices. The cost of the project has drawn Trump’s ire, and he has complained about the cost, as well as Powell’s decisions on interest rates.
Powell had denied that the renovation had included some of the more extravagant expenses described in media reports. Last year, Trump also visited the construction site, where Powell fact-checked Trump during the visit.
“A mountain of evidence suggests that the dominant purpose is to harass Powell to pressure him to lower rates,” Boasberg wrote. “For years, the President has publicly targeted Powell because the Fed is not delivering the low rates that Trump demands.”
Boasberg cited how Trump had called Powell, whom Trump nominated in his first term in the White House, “one of my worst appointments.”
Trump has pushed for the chairman to lower interest rates as a means to increase employment. Even on Thursday, Trump called on Powell to lower interest rates amid the war in Iran.
But Powell has attempted to keep the Federal Reserve insulated from politics and hesitated to lower interest rates until the economy could feel the affect of Trump’s across-the-board tariffs. The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate to keep unemployment low while also controlling inflation.
Boasberg cited how Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, had posted a letter on X directing Congress to investigate Powell about the renovations and “his political bias,” which led to Trump posting about them on Truth Social.
“The President’s appointed prosecutor promptly complied,” Boasberg wrote. “Those facts strongly imply that this investigation was launched for an improper purpose, as were the resulting subpoenas.”
Jeanine Pirro, the ex-New York judge turned television presenter and Trump loyalist who serves as the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, responded to the ruling by attacking Judge Boasberg as an “activist” at a hastily-convened press conference.
She accused Boasberg, who was appointed to the District of Columbia Superior Court by President George W. Bush and elevated to the District Court by Barack Obama, of having “neutered the grand jury’s ability to investigate crime” by quashing the subpoena and called his decision “wrong” and “without legal authority.”
The former Fox News host also accused the judge of declaring Powell “beyond reproach” with his ruling and predicted “chaos” from courts clogged with motions from future defendants who allege they have been targeted improperly.
“This judge has put himself at the entrance door to the grand jury, slamming that door shut irrespective of the legal process, and thus preventing the grand jury from doing the work that it does,” she said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Powell’s term as Federal Reserve chairman expires in May. Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh as his replacement.
But the probe into Powell has already caused headaches. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said he would not support Warsh’s confirmation until the probe ended.
On Friday, Tillis said that the ruling confirmed “how weak and frivolous” the investigation into Powell was.
“We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” Tillis said in a statement. “Appealing the ruling will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair.“