Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed support for an idea to give presidents more control over the Federal Reserve, which could threaten its independence.
On his social-media platform X late Thursday, Musk placed the “100” emoji on a retweet of a post from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, that said, “The Executive Branch should be under the direction of the president. That’s how the Constitution was designed. The Federal Reserve is one of many examples of how we’ve deviated from the Constitution in that regard. Yet another reason why we should #EndTheFed“
Lee’s post included a screenshot of a news story about Fed Chairman Jerome Powell saying he would not resign if asked.
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Fed declined to comment.
Economists have said Fed independence is key to setting monetary policy without political pressure that could weaken its credibility on fighting inflation.
During a news briefing earlier on Thursday after the Fed cut rates, Powell was asked if he would resign if President-elect Donald Trump demanded it, and Powell simply replied “no.” Later he was asked if he thought a president has the authority to fire or demote a Fed chair or other Fed official in a leadership post, and Powell said, “Not permitted under the law.”
That could set up Trump’s first major showdown over his sweeping plans on the economy. During his first term as president, Trump appointed Powell as Fed chair in 2018, but later clashed with Powell as the Fed chief pushed back on demands for looser monetary policy. Earlier this year, Trump said that as president he should at least have an opinion on interest rates.
While the Fed is expected to cut rates again in December, some analysts have said that any additional signs that inflation is sticky or the economy is still growing robustly could lead policymakers to pause on further cuts.
Meanwhile, Trump wants Musk to lead efforts to improve government efficiency, and the billionaire CEO has said $2 trillion could be slashed from federal spending.
On Saturday, Musk said on X that “The unelected and unconstitutional Federal bureaucracy currently has more power than the presidency, legislature or judiciary! This needs to change.”
The tech mogul became a top surrogate on the campaign trail and has established a presence after the election.
He was on a call with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who reached out Wednesday after the election to congratulate Trump.
Sources told Axios that Musk said he would continue supporting Ukraine through SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, which has been helping troops communicate. Musk was also on a call between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
