Jerome Powell said he plans to remain on the board of the Federal Reserve after his term as chair ends next month “for an undetermined period of time”, citing the “unprecedented” legal attacks against the central bank by the Trump administration.

“I worry these attacks are battering this institution and putting at risk the things that really matter to the public,” Powell said at a press conference after the Fed announced its decision to keep its benchmark interest rate steady.

Powell’s decision to stay denies US President Donald Trump a chance to fill a seat on the central bank’s seven-member governing board with his own appointee.

The Senate Banking Committee earlier approved Powell’s successor as chair, Trump appointee Kevin Warsh, on a party-line vote. Powell would continue as a Fed governor, possibly until January 2028.

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said on social media on Friday that her office was ending its probe into the Fed’s extensive building renovations because the Fed’s inspector general would scrutinise them instead. But she added that her office could reopen the investigation if “the facts warrant doing so”.

Apparently that did not bring Powell the closure he felt was needed.