Senator Cynthia Lummis Calls on Jerome Powell to Resign

The gloves are off and people in positions of power are speaking their minds, it seems. In a surprisingly transparent moment, Cynthia Lummis, U.S. Senator from Wyoming, called upon Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to resign immediately.

There’s no denying that Lummis said this, as it’s right there on her X/Twitter posting: “Jay Powell has proven time and time again that he is unfit to run the Fed. He must resign now.” This posting has over half a million views and 8,000 likes/hearts.

Lummis’s sentiment echoes that of President Donald Trump, who has called Powell “too late” on lowering interest rates and has considering firing Powell. However, it’s unlikely that Trump will fight the court battles that trying to fire Powell would entail, especially since Powell’s terms ends in May of 2026.

While Lummis’s call for Powell to resign before his term ends might seem audacious to some onlookers, Powell’s critics look forward to a changing of the guard at the Federal Reserve. There’s sharp dissent among Federal Reserve officials now, with some calling for an interest rate cut this month in defiance of Powell’s “wait-and-see” policy.

Moreover, Lummis’s posting could prompt a grassroots movement as the populace wakes up to the reality of inflation versus Powell’s expectations of worst-case scenarios. Powell and some of his colleagues at the Fed have lived in fear of hyperinflation since Trump took office in January, but it’s now July and those tariff fears have yet to materialize.

Courtesy: @truflation

Indeed, all major U.S. inflation gauges (CPI, PPI, etc.) have been range-bound since the beginning of 2025. And if you prefer to use a non-government-biased inflation gauge such as the Truflation U.S. Inflation Index, you’ll find that price increases for American consumers have been well-contained since the previous presidential administration.

Powell might not want to acknowledge that tariffs haven’t caused some sort of inflation apocalypse, but citizens in the real world see what’s happening and what’s not happening. Notably, as measured by the New York Fed in June, one-year inflation expectations were down to 3.02% versus 3.13% expected for June and the actual 3.2% print in May.

When there’s a disconnect between what the Fed chairman says and what people can see with their own eyes, there’s bound to be dissent within the ranks of the Federal Reserve. This helps to explain why Fed governor Chris Waller would openly disagree with Powell and boldly call for immediate interest rate cuts.

Of course, Powell and his apologists could claim that even though there’s no hyperinflation yet, it will happen in the coming months. But then, remember that Powell also claimed that inflation was “transitory” in 2021, before the price of practically everything went through the roof.

And now, middle-class Americans have to somehow deal with persistently high interest rates, which put tremendous financial pressure on businesses and eventually result in widespread layoffs. The job market might look robust from the Ivory Tower that central bankers live in, but in the trenches it’s tough to get a job and just as tough to keep one.

Courtesy: Liz Ann Sonders

I’m sure Powell would look at this chart of U.S. credit card interest rates and conclude that the rates are “rolling over.” In reality, however, few Americans can afford to pay 21% interest rates on their credit card debt for much longer.

Moreover, many Americans with automobile loans are in dire straits because of high interest rates. The data shows that 60-month auto loan interest rates are stretched, and frankly, it’s worrisome that so many people need five full years to pay off their vehicles nowadays.

Undeterred, the current Fed wants to keep rates high and has kept them elevated for quite a while, which hasn’t been enjoyable for Treasury bond holders. Shockingly, the data indicates that the last 10 years have been the worst decade for U.S. Treasury bond prices in history.

It’s a tough time for struggling Americans as the current Fed chairman just can’t see eye-to-eye with the White House. Cynthia Lummis’s call for Powell’s resignation will probably fall on deaf ears, but at least someone is willing to say what a lot of people are thinking.