The Federal Reserve, in a closed-door meeting, decided to make partial concessions to Trump in order to maintain the central bank's independence.

According to Mars Finance, on December 23, The Washington Post published an article titled "The Fed's Strategy for Maintaining Independence Under Trump," which pointed out that in the spring of 2025, the 12 regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents held a closed-door meeting in Philadelphia to discuss a highly sensitive topic: whether to cut approximately 10% of the Fed's staff in response to the Trump administration's plan to shrink the federal government. Some regional presidents opposed this, arguing that it could harm the Fed's operational capabilities. However, the overall discussion resulted in the Fed's top leadership deciding to mitigate political pressure by partially complying with certain demands from the Trump administration, thereby better protecting the central bank's independence in key decision-making and avoiding direct confrontation. Subsequently, in May 2025, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell issued an internal memo to employees announcing that the overall number of employees would be reduced by approximately 10% over the next few years (including until the end of 2027) (from approximately 24,000 to approximately 22,000).