Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell may not attend the upcoming congressional hearings due to a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice, which has raised potential criminal charges against him. Traditionally, the Fed chairman testifies twice a year before Congress, as mandated by the 1978 amendments to the Federal Reserve Act. Representative French Hill, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, indicated that Powell is unlikely to appear at the February hearings before both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, following accusations of perjury by a grand jury.