The nation’s founding fathers realized that concentration of power inevitably leads to abuse of power. For that reason they designed a system of governance with three co-equal branches; the members of each branch believed to jealously guard their awarded powers, having the incentive to check the other branches from overreach.

With some exceptions, and however imperfectly, the system has worked reasonably well, at least until recently. Thanks to adherence to unwritten norms and struggles by principled advocates seeking justice, reforms and progressive legislation has over the years improved the lives of minorities and the disadvantaged. Sadly, we are now regressing with checks and balances not working as was intended. 

Power has long been shifting to the executive branch. But with the Trump presidency, especially with Trump 02, we are experiencing an unprecedented, and dangerous, unchecked seizure of presidential power by Donald Trump.

Political scientists and historians will analyze and debate how this happened. But to everyday citizens it seems like a perfect storm. The US Supreme Court awarding Trump additional powers and exemption from accountability; an unusually subservient — some would say cowardly — legislative branch, the House surrendering their power of the purse and the Senate abdicating its advice and consent responsibilities; an amoral president ignorant of history, using election denial to foment insurrection; non-governmental institutions knuckling under to a power-hungry president. The latter include the submission of universities to presidential power grabs; corporate executives bending the knee, submitting to destructive economic policies such as tariffs and deportation of foreign labor that does the low paid work that native born labor won’t do, all in exchange for more favorable tax policies for the rich; and an asleep-at-the-switch mainstream media that normalizes corrupt behavior.  

Any one of Trump’s malevolent actions too numerable to list here would have crushed any other candidate. Instead, Trump was rewarded with a second term as the most powerful man in the world. Trump’s success in gaining executive power has emboldened him to grab ever more power. 

With Trump’s seizure of yet more power, we have a president fomenting previously unimaginable deeds, ranging from masked gunmen beating up, kidnapping, even murdering, people, including citizens; declaring himself president of a South American country; and seriously contemplating taking over Greenland, ostensibly under the guise of “national security.”

This blatant, cruel, unlawful, unconstitutional overreach has thus far left the president untouched, allowing him to continue using his presidency as a money-making tool.  Maybe, just maybe, his latest overreach with the Fed Chair might be a bridge too far for him as even his billionaire lackeys and corporate types who supposedly know something about macroeconomics are showing some signs of resistance.

Trump’s tremendous wealth, gained through a combination of inheritance, stiffing his contractors, and pushing the edge of the law, including strategic use of bankruptcy law, has unfortunately convinced many voters that he is an astute businessman.  Yes, he’s wealthy, but inherited wealth and pushing laws to the edge doesn’t mean he knows how the macro economy functions.  Nor does he understand what works for working people just trying to get by financially.

Presidents have typically favored low interest rates that favor borrowing and spending that gooses the economy. But that’s the rationale for an independent Fed that is responsible for monetary policy with the goal of some combination of stable prices and full employment. While that’s a tough order and the Fed is not infallible, an independent Fed with its Board of Governors representing all regions of the country is definitely more sensible than leaving monetary policy to a president with a short run vision.

Tension between the Fed and the president is normal. But Trump has been furious at Fed Chair Jerome Powell, his own appointee, for not reducing short term interest rates that is the Fed’s major policy tool. Having successfully sacked chairs and members of other independent agencies, why not sack the Fed Chair?

Quite simply, the Fed is way too important, not just for the nation but for the world economy, to be left to the political whims of any president. Financial markets and the faith of the U.S. government as lender of last resort depend on an independent Fed. Trump’s earlier chatter about attempting to replace Powell rattled the bond market enough that it got Trump’s attention. But it left him furious and did not stop him from his usual classless and tacky behavior — calling Powell nasty names and accusing him of cowardice and incompetence.  

Ironically, there is no reason, other than his own ego and demonstration of power, for Trump to get exercised over not getting rid of Powell. After all, Powell’s term as Fed Chair ends in May and Trump can name his own replacement. Of course he has to get his nominee through the Senate, but that should be a given. The Republican-controlled Senate has already obsequiously submitted to the White House and approved the most unqualified combination of cabinet misfits in recent history.

But Trump won’t let it go. The US Attorney’s office in Washington has opened a criminal investigation of Powell over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters. The charge? That Powell may have lied to Congress about the project. Some Republican lawmakers and White House insiders had accused Powell of lying to Congress during his testimony in June, prompting US Attorney Pirro to order the investigation

Unprecedented, and never before done in history? Anybody involved with Powell sees him as a straight shooter and can’t imagine that he would be so ignorant as to threaten his reputation by falsely testifying before congress.

Former Fed Chairs, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and Janet Yellen quickly condemned the investigation as an attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine independence of the Fed. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, no friend of Democrats, condemned the Trump administration, warning that threats to the Fed’s independence could stoke inflation.

What is as difficult to believe that Powell would lie to congress is Trump’s insistence that he “knew nothing about the investigation and was surprised by it.”  

We all understand “plausible deniability.”  And we all heard Trump’s promise of retribution. Even if the investigation goes nowhere, it is Trump’s way of meting out punishment to adversaries, and warning his appointees and his Republicans to “stay in line.” Will Republican congress members oppose this investigation? Only Senator Tillis who is retiring and a few sometime-dissidents like Senator Murkowski have weighed in. Too many critics who know better are, as usual, soft-peddling or avoiding it to avoid getting on the wrong side of the President.

Will investigation of Powell hurt Trump?  Probably not, at least not seriously enough to stop his carnage and use of the presidency for his enrichment. It’s just another illustration of his willingness to risk tremendous economic damage to satisfy his desire for retribution and demonstration of power.

— John Waelti of Monroe, a retired professor of economics, can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears monthly in the Monroe Times.