The Trump administration’s surprise decision to subpoena Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and threaten him with an indictment over alleged perjury during a congressional hearing was reportedly fueled at the insistence of Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte, according to a Bloomberg report sourced from unnamed “people familiar with the matter.”
Last Thursday, Pulte posted a message on X that declared, “Jerome Powell should resign, immediately.” On Friday, Pulte flew to Palm Beach, Florida, to be with President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) served the central bank leader with a subpoena on Friday but did not publicly announce its action. Powell announced the subpoena on Sunday night, denouncing it as political pressure from the Trump administration to lower rates.
The subpoena is tied to Powell’s congressional testimony about cost overruns on the Fed’s headquarters, which Trump and his team have tried to turn into a political scandal. Trump claimed in an interview to be unaware of the DOJ’s action, while Bloomberg also stated a “senior administration official” claimed the DOJ acted without Pulte’s input.
Pulte has been a driving force in trying to use the DOJ to bring down Trump’s political enemies. During 2025, Pulte made mortgage fraud criminal referrals against New York Attorney General Letitia James, Sen. Adam Schiff, Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, and Rep. Eric Swalwell. Pulte has made no public comment on Powell’s announcement.
