“The problem is, we don’t know the facts of the case,” York said. “We do know the Fed building renovation is hugely over budget, which is not super unique in Washington, but beyond that, we just don’t know anything. We do know it was really weird for the head of the Federal Reserve to release a video on Sunday night. The president himself has said he didn’t know anything about it.”

“Before anybody can really say anything definitively, we need to know: What is the alleged wrongdoing here?” York added.

York was referring to President Donald Trump’s claims about the cost of renovating the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington. Trump has said the renovations cost about $3.1 billion. Powell denied that figure, saying Trump “added in a third building” to inflate the estimate.

In his video message, Powell said, “This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings.” The Fed is an agency that is much younger than the Constitution, leaving little precedent for how the president can deal with it.

“Obviously, the founders didn’t create a Federal Reserve,” York said. “And this is solely a much, much later creation. It has enormous power, but the president has really tried hard to let them know what he thinks about Jerome Powell’s job. He doesn’t like it. The president has had a tough time having his way with the Fed.”

FED ‘IGNORED’ DOJ INQUIRY INTO POWELL MORE THAN ONCE: PIRRO

Former President Barack Obama nominated Powell to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 2012. Trump elevated Powell to chairman in 2018, and then-President Joe Biden reappointed him in 2022.

Trump has publicly contemplated firing Powell but has kept him in the position. Trump has also hinted at making Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the new chairman.