President Donald Trump suggested he could seek to oust Federal Reserve governors appointed by President Joe Biden if their commissions were signed by autopen, in his latest bid to exert control over the central bank.

The gambit is unlikely to come to fruition.

Previous Trump declarations that he was voiding Biden actions where the former president used an autopen have resulted in little more than eyerolls. Governors would be almost certain to mount a legal challenge to any effort to invalidate their Senate-backed appointments.

But the comments nevertheless represent the latest encroachment by the president on the independence of the central bank.

“I hear that the autopen may have signed those commissions,” Trump said during a political rally in Pennsylvania. “If they signed those commissions — now maybe I’m wrong, but we’re going to check.”

Presidents finalize an appointment by signing a commission after nominees are approved by the Senate to formalize their assumption of a federal office. Trump went on to suggest that an official he had appointed could be thrown “the hell out of here” had he similarly used an autopen. He asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who joined him at the rally, to investigate the issue.

“Would you check that?” the president continued. “Scott, okay, because I’m hearing that the autopen could have signed maybe all four, but maybe a couple of them — we’ll take two. So look at that.”

The Federal Reserve declined to comment.

Autopens have been used in multiple presidencies, and their usage can be traced back to the 1940s during Harry Truman’s administration.

In 2005, White House lawyers asked the Justice Department for an opinion on whether the president may sign a bill by autopen, which no president had done. The DOJ concluded that under the historical and legal meaning of the word “sign” in the early republic, “a person may sign a document by directing that his signature be affixed to it by another,” and that “the President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill to sign it.”

Still, Trump’s comments were the latest signal the president is eager to assert influence over the Fed after months of frustration with the pace of rate cuts. Trump reiterated Tuesday he intends to bring change to the board, which is expected to announce whether it will cut interest rates at its December meeting on Wednesday.

That includes a new leader after Chair Jerome Powell’s term expires in May.

“We’re going to be looking at a couple different people, but I have a pretty good idea of who I want,” Trump told reporters on the flight to Pennsylvania. Trump has repeatedly hinted that Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, could be his pick.

Trump earlier this year moved to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing claims she committed mortgage fraud. Cook has denied wrongdoing and filed a lawsuit to block her removal; the Supreme Court said last month it would hear oral arguments in the case in January.

In addition to Cook, Biden reappointed Powell, and appointed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson and Michael Barr as governors on the board. A fifth Biden appointee, Adriana Kugler, resigned from the Fed board in August, six months before her term was set to expire.

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(With assistance from Amara Omeokwe.)

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