President-elect Donald Trump has sent mixed signals for years on whether he would aim to fire or demote Fed Chair Jerome Powell when he reenters the Oval Office next year.

But Powell himself laid down a marker Thursday that he won’t be going anywhere, even if Trump tried.

"Not permitted under the law," the central bank chair said Thursday in curt but clear responses to reporters who asked about his views on any legal authorities Trump might have in terms of firing or demoting him or any other top Fed officials.

"No," he said at another point in a press conference on the question of whether he would leave.

It could be a point of conflict in the months ahead. Trump has signaled he may not be inclined to fire Powell but has also maintained he has that power.

For his part, Trump reiterated the idea of firing Powell in a 2020 news conference when he bluntly said, "I have the right to remove" Powell.

He added that he could also demote Powell from his position as chair, "put him in a regular position, and put somebody else in charge."

It’s an unsettled legal question, though, with many experts falling on Powell's side of the argument.

At issue is Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act. The law states that each member of the board shall hold office for 14 years "unless sooner removed for cause by the President." The statute doesn't have any language that specifically addresses the chairman of the Board of Governors.

Read more: How much control does the president have over the Fed and interest rates?

The question that has been debated for years is what exactly constitutes "for cause."

The language in the law is plainly more restrictive for Fed officials when compared with the arrangements of cabinet officials and other members of a presidential administration, who are often described as working "at the pleasure" of the president.

Legal experts have tended to say that a simple policy disagreement wouldn't rise to the level of cause, but it's a standard that hasn't been tested with a judge.

'I’m not going to get into any of the political things'

The comments from Powell and the legal questions come amid massive uncertainty for the central bank following the decisive win for Trump on Tuesday night.

During his first term, then-President Trump attacked Powell with regularity (even though it was Trump who had elevated him to his current role) and openly pushed for the actions he wanted, even once suggesting negative interest rates.

Esther George, the former president of the Kansas City Fed, also weighed in on possible implications of a Trump presidency in a Yahoo Finance interview on Thursday afternoon.