‘He lights stuff on fire’: GOP ex-lawmaker blasts Trump for Fed investigation

Speaking to a ballroom full of bankers in Durham on Monday, former U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, offered his blunt assessment of the Trump administration’s move to investigate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“What Trump is doing now, I think is deeply offensive to our system of checks and balances,” McHenry said during an interview at the 2026 Economic Forecast Forum, hosted by the North Carolina Bankers Association and the North Carolina Chamber. “It is deeply offensive to Fed independence, and is a wrong thing to do. It is not right for the economy.”

McHenry represented North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District from 2005 to 2025. He served as chair of the House Financial Services Committee before deciding not to run for reelection in 2024. He has since been hired as a senior adviser at the investment firm Lazard.

His scheduled appearance at the forecast forum came a day after Powell confirmed the Department of Justice had issued a subpoena and threatened a criminal charge over Powell’s past testimony concerning Federal Reserve building renovations. This multi-year construction project has exceeded initial cost estimates, a fact President Donald Trump has seized on while also criticizing the central bank for not making more substantial interest rate cuts.

Interviewed by Tim Boyum, host of Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight,” McHenry suggested Trump instigated the probe to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower rates at a time many American people express frustration with higher prices caused by inflation and tariffs.

“Now, he’s taking aggressive action to say that he’s doing something, because in the meantime, he can’t do anything,” McHenry said. “Fed independence is something that he firmly rejects, even though he appointed Jay Powell.”

The U.S. founded the Federal Reserve System in 1913 as a body that would guide U.S. monetary policy while being removed from the political priorities of individual administrations. Trump appointed Powell in 2017, and President Joe Biden reappointed him four years later. Powell’s term as chair ends in May, but he is set to remain on the board as a governor until early 2028.

The central bank lowered interest rates three times last year, but the Trump administration sought steeper reductions.

“So, what happens when things get boring in Washington, when you have a President Trump?” McHenry, who served as a Lincoln County Republican, told the audience. “He lights stuff on fire.”

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski were two current GOP leaders to publicly denounce the DOJ’s investigation into the Federal Reserve, with Tillis promising to oppose Trump’s forthcoming chair nomination until the matter is resolved.

Trump has downplayed his role in the DOJ investigation, telling NBC News on Sunday, “I don’t know anything about it, but (Powell’s) certainly not very good at the Fed, and he’s not very good at building buildings.”

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin was interviewed at Monday’s Economic Forecast Forum directly after McHenry. While he declined to comment on the investigation, Barkin backed the value of the Federal Reserve acting free from political pressure.

“You can see it across countries that an independent central bank delivers better economic outcomes than a non-independent central bank,” he said.

©2026 Raleigh News & Observer. Visit newsobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.