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Kamala Harris voted<\/a> against Jerome Powell\u2019s confirmation as Federal Reserve chair in 2018 when she was in the Senate, siding instead with a bloc of progressive lawmakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Donald Trump has continued to sound hostile<\/a> toward Powell, despite originally naming him to be Fed chief<\/a>. So whoever wins in November, Powell may not be around much longer, despite closing in on a remarkable economic feat.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a very low probability that once his term is up in 2026, he is renominated by either Kamala or Trump, and I think he knows it,\u201d Frank Kelly, a senior political strategist at investment firm DWS, told Fortune<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting, and he doesn\u2019t necessarily want to do it. He\u2019s gonna take the huge win\u2014the softest of soft landings\u2014and slide out.\u201d<\/p>\n Harris\u2019s campaign didn\u2019t immediately respond when asked if she would renominate Powell. Trump has said he would let Powell complete his term, but hasn\u2019t said what he would do after. His campaign didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n During his tenure, Powell oversaw a strong economy that was then rocked by the economic downturn from COVID-19. As the pandemic ebbed, the U.S. found itself facing soaring inflation<\/a> that peaked around 9% in the summer of 2022<\/a>. However, Powell\u2019s work since then of \u201ccontrolling inflation without getting a recession\u201d is a \u201chuge achievement,\u201d that might still offer him a chance of remaining in his role beyond 2026, according to Frederic Mishkin, an economics professor at Columbia Business School. If Powell succeeds in executing the soft landing, then \u201cthere\u2019s a real possibility that he will get reappointed\u201d by Harris, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump nominated Powell in November 2017 after deciding not to keep Janet Yellen. He was confirmed in a 84-13 vote. Opposing Powell\u2019s nomination were four Republicans, among them Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who joined Harris and progressives like Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and independent Bernie Sanders to vote against confirmation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time, Powell was seen as a moderate pragmatist and was considered a sensible pick for the Fed chair job. But the group of progressive Democrats were likely wary of Powell\u2019s unwillingness to commit to further regulations on big banks<\/a>. They also felt Powell wasn\u2019t sufficiently factoring low-income families into the Fed\u2019s analysis of the economy, according to Kelly. Meanwhile, the contingent of Republican senators voted against Powell because they didn\u2019t support the Fed\u2019s stimulative monetary policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, with Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee, she and Powell find their fates intertwined again. This time, Harris is trying to tout the Biden administration\u2019s economic accomplishments\u2014a historically strong job market, falling inflation, and stronger unions\u2014while distancing herself from the pesky fact that everyday Americans still feel bad about the economy. Harris is expected to adopt a similar tax policy to Biden\u2019s that would increase the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, according<\/a> to the AP. Even though Harris has already started crafting her own<\/a> messaging on the economy, she continues Biden\u2019s heavy focus on working- and middle-class voters<\/a>. However, Harris\u2019s economic platform<\/a> from her 2020 primary run shows she may favor a more expansive fiscal policy than Biden did.\u00a0<\/p>\n When it comes to monetary policy and working with the Fed, Harris is also likely to adopt the same hands-off approach that Biden and most other presidents in recent memory have had, according to Mishkin.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTrump completely violated this,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was very critical of Jay Powell, who he appointed.\u201d<\/p>\n During his presidency, Trump broke with decades of established precedent that said presidents shouldn\u2019t interfere with monetary policy. Instead, Trump opted to excoriate, and at times insult, Powell when he was in office. Trump ratcheted up the pressure in 2019 because he thought Powell was too slow to cut interest rates. In September of that year, Trump called Federal Reserve staffers \u201cboneheads<\/a>.\u201d Trump\u2019s outbursts sparked real fears<\/a> that he might try to fire Powell<\/a> from the Federal Reserve, which would have been an unprecedented move in and of itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n More recently, Trump accused Powell<\/a> in February of being \u201cpolitical,\u201d saying he lacked the requisite independence needed to run the Fed. \u201cIt looks to me like he\u2019s trying to lower interest rates for the sake of maybe getting people elected, I don\u2019t know,\u201d Trump said<\/a> during an interview with Fox<\/a> Business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In April, the Wall Street Journal<\/em> published a report<\/a> detailing a plan from Trump allies to blunt the Fed\u2019s independence and allow the president to be involved in setting interest rates. At the time, Trump campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said the report should not \u201cbe deemed official.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For his part, Powell has long maintained that he and other Fed officials don\u2019t take politics into account when they decide on monetary policy.<\/p>\n At the Fed\u2019s meeting this week, Powell could give further guidance on rate cuts<\/a>, which are now expected in September as the prolonged bout of inflation fades further. Should he time them right, rate cuts<\/a> could prop up growth amid signs of cooling, meaning Powell will have successfully navigated a delicate economic balancing act. <\/p>\n \u201cGive credit where credit is due,\u201d Mishkin said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter: <\/strong>CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. 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