Image: Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell at a news conference in Washington

If President Donald Trump wins re-election in November, he could throw the economy into disarray with an assault on the Federal Reserve as he seeks to remake the central bank in his own image — and compliant with his whims.

"If Trump wins the election, he'll believe he has a mandate to fire" Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, said Mitchell Goldberg, president of ClientFirst Strategy.

Trump has threatened to dismiss Powell — whom he tapped in 2017 to head the Fed[1] — but Powell has responded by saying that he believes he cannot be fired without cause[2] and that he will not resign. Firing or demoting Powell would be legally fraught, and some suggest that Trump might not want to risk losing an almost inevitable court fight if he tried to fire Powell before his term as chairman is up in 2022.

"It would be very unpopular and difficult to fight in the courts, firing Powell. I think he would lean towards letting him finish out his term and pushing forward someone he has designated on the board to run it, with the hopes that he, as president, would have more influence on Fed policy going forward," said Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and chief strategist of Quill Intelligence.

Some suggest that Trump loyalist Judy Shelton could be a chairwoman-in-waiting. Shelton, a former Trump campaign adviser and outspoken critic of the Fed, is scheduled to meet with the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

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Shelton has stirred concern by questioning the need for the Fed's independence, a stance that would align her with Trump but put her at odds with mainstream economists.

"It is encouraging to...

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