Jerome Powell, officially the least popular Fed chair since Gallup began tracking public confidence in Fed bosses more than two decades ago, is adamant: There’s nothing he can do to protect the economy in the event the US were to default on its debt or other obligations.

He’d probably say the same for markets, and I’d suggest that neither contention is entirely true. Obviously, the Fed couldn’t offset the impact of what would count as one of the most egregious political debacles in modern American history (and that’s a high bar, by the way), but they’d have to try. And they would.

But what options does Powell actually have? Well, he could stop QT, as a start. He’d have to face the usual awkward juxtaposition with above-target inflation, but the recession that would almost invariably stem from a default would likely “solve” the country’s price growth problem in relatively short order.

“QT adds to funding needs of the Treasury, so it would make sense to pause QT [but] the Fed is likely to separate monetary policy and steps taken for market functioning and financial stability,” TD’s Priya Misra said, noting that elevated inflation and a tight labor market “makes it difficult for the Fed to use monetary policy to help.”

The tables above provide some context for what’s in the proverbial firing line and also for who owns it. The second column in the right-most table gives you a sense of the dislocation in at-risk Bills.

I’m not sure it even makes sense to talk about this in the context of the June FOMC meeting. If the debt ceiling standoff is resolved by then, it’s a non-factor for monetary policy. If it isn’t (resolved by then), markets will have heard from the Fed on several occasions by June 14. Notwithstanding officials’ contention that there’s nothing they can do, they’ll be doing plenty over the first two weeks of next month if June 1 is indeed the x-date and there’s no agreement in Washington by then.

“While the Fed has not brought up any facilities they can launch in case of default, in a default scenario the Fed could swap affected bonds with bonds from the SOMA portfolio [which] was discussed in the run up to the 2013 debt ceiling situation,” TD’s Misra went on to say, before cautioning that such a maneuver would be a short-term palliative, at best.

Plainly, another rate hike (already unlikely) would be a total non-starter. Although it’s entirely possible that Treasurys would be bid voraciously in a default scenario (i.e., the paradoxical “buy the debt of the defaulter” dynamic the US enjoys), the market would likely exhibit all manner of friction. Given that, you have to believe Powell would commit to backstopping it (the market) lest it should cease to function altogether as a safe-haven bid collides with default melee to create abject chaos.

Banks, already troubled by “recent developments” (as the March FOMC minutes euphemistically described that month’s turmoil), would probably need regulatory leeway and assurances from the Fed in order to prevent extreme risk aversion tied to, among other things, uncertainty around the treatment of “riskless” securities issued by a government so beset by partisan intransigence that both sides decided to default to make a point to each other.

I’d be remiss not to mention that a worst-case scenario would add one more calamity to the long list of crises Powell has faced since taking the reins from Janet Yellen. It’s hard to fathom how one man could be so unlucky. Never forget: The VIX ETN complex imploded on Powell’s very first day in the big seat. Since then, he’s seen a trade war, a plague, a short-lived depression, a ground war in Europe, 9-handle inflation and three bear markets. Now, he’s staring at an unprecedented US debt default.