Mnuchin Talks to Bank Executives About Market Tumult

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin made a precautionary call to six of the country's largest banks to avoid market fallout on Christmas Eve. Reports that President Trump was consulting advisers about whether he had authority to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was causing concern and Mnuchin was trying to get ahead of the news.

In a statement he said: "We continue to see strong economic growth in the U.S. economy with robust activity from consumers and business. With the government shutdown, Treasury will have critical employees to maintain its core operations at Fiscal Services, IRS, and other critical functions within the department."

In recent months, Trump has continued to attack Powell, accusing the former investment banker of trying to undercut him politically by raising interest rates and slowing down the economy. Ahead of the Fed's final meeting last week, the President warned the Powell not to make "another mistake" to raise rates.