Powell to face press for first time since open defiance of Trump

Powell, 72, made the astonishing announcement earlier this month in a video. He will take questions in the afternoon following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which began meeting Tuesday and will vote on whether to change its monetary policy Wednesday afternoon.

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In the video, Powell revealed the Fed recently received grand jury subpoenas related to testimony he gave to the Senate last year about renovation cost overruns of the Fed headquarters building in Washington, D.C. The chairman said the inquiry was a pretext to pressure him to lower interest rates, threatening the independence of the Fed.

The video was particularly surprising since Powell has avoided confrontation with the