| The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today that the consumer price index rose 0.2% in June. The below-forecast inflation reading was taken by President Donald Trump, according to his post on Truth Social, as a sign that the Federal Reserve should reduce interest rates by three points. Fed officials have been hesitant to cut while the effects of Trump’s tariffs remain uncertain. As that policy argument continues, there’s a different drama shaping up in Washington. Joshua Green writes today about Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s job security. Plus: Meet the people who are calculating companies’ tariff bills, and take a test drive in a Waabi autonomous big rig. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up. Jerome Powell is no stranger to criticism from Donald Trump. The president’s lengthy history of attacks against the Federal Reserve chair—whom he recently dubbed “Mr. Too Late,” a dig at Powell’s reluctance to cut interest rates—stretches all the way back to his first term. But it’s no longer just Trump who’s nursing a grievance with Powell. Over the past weekend, a full chorus of MAGA critics emerged, escalating the volume and the venom of the attacks. Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget and a staunch Trump ally, in an interview with CNBC on Friday cited cost overruns in the renovation of the central bank’s Washington headquarters as proof that Powell “has systemically mismanaged the Fed.” Vought claims, somewhat dubiously, that the opulence of the project is comparable to France’s Palace of Versailles.  Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett concurred in an interview on ABC on Sunday that Powell “has a lot to answer for” on the renovation cost overruns, which the administration says are now $700 million above its initial figure. If Powell is found culpable of wrongdoing, Hassett suggested, it could be a pretext for Trump to remove him. Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, who’s viewed as eager to succeed Powell as chair, also chimed in. “What we need is regime change at the Fed, and that’s not just about the chairman, it’s about a range of people,” Warsh said on Fox News. “It’s about breaking some heads, because the way they’ve been doing business is not working.” Such a coordinated political attack on the Fed is highly abnormal in recent history. And Powell isn’t ignoring his critics. On Monday, Bloomberg News reported he’ll formally request that the Fed’s independent inspector general review its $2.5 billion renovation—a move he presumably believes will clear him of any wrongdoing. In the meantime, the Fed published a comprehensive FAQ on its website rebutting claims that the construction work is extravagant and explaining cost increases. But vindication from the IG, should it come, isn’t likely to silence his critics. In my conversations with Republicans, Democrats and Wall Street watchers about Powell’s plight, no one believed that concerns about renovation costs were the real motivation for the complaints. Rather, everyone said that criticizing Powell has become a preferred mechanism for ingratiating oneself to Trump. For figures like Warsh and Hassett, who are both known to be eyeing the Fed job, going after Powell in a way that Trump notices might help their campaigns to replace him. Others in the MAGA universe think that aggressively pressuring Powell might prompt him to quit the Fed once his term as chair ends next May, rather than make the unusual decision to stay on as governor (as I noted last week, Powell has been circumspect about his plans). That would open another seat for Trump to fill and expand his influence over an institution he longs to control. As my colleagues and I recently reported, Trump is so keen to strengthen his control over the Fed that he’s discussed the possibility of having Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also serve as Fed chair. This or any other unorthodox move to install a loyalist in the job would “create the mother of all HR problems,” Renaissance Macro’s Neil Dutta told me. That’s because any such move would cause alarm that the Fed’s independence is being compromised. While Trump bides his time and weighs his options on Powell’s successor, those around him appear to have concluded that stepping up criticism of the Fed chair is a good way to get ahead in Trump’s Washington. It isn’t hard to see why. After all, Bessent was one of Powell’s most vocal critics during the campaign—and wound up with a cabinet post. Related: Bessent Suggests Powell Should Leave Fed Board in May From Bloomberg Opinion: Powell’s Caution on Tariff-Driven Inflation Is Right | 
