MI2 Partners Thoughts From The Divide: “Powell’s Last Stand?”
Aug 22, 2025
Over the last few weeks, we have discussed the Administration’s attempts to use staff selections to undermine Fed opposition to the WH’s preferred policy mix. One could argue (let the reader decide) that this is part of a broader strategy to use staffing decisions to increase WH (and MAGA’s) influence in policymaking (“TFTD: Personnel is Policy”). Viewed through this (cynical?) frame, observers might argue that a new front opened up in the battle of the Fed with the allegations that Lisa Cook committed mortgage fraud. We would argue that the appointment of EJ Antoni to the BLS was a new front: a flanking maneuver, designed to ensure that marginal (in the eye of the beholder) BLS calls tend to go the WH’s way. At the risk of contradicting Mr. Authers, the mortgage fraud allegations against Cook are a new tactic on an old front. Potato-potahto. Either way, while Mr. Authers used “startling”, we would describe ourselves as unsurprised: politics ain’t beanbag and the Administration was known to have sharp elbows. One might argue that it’s a symmetric response to Trump’s adversaries’ regular use of lawfare against him, but who can say? Perhaps the WH would have used this tactic regardless.