US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he plans to announce his pick to lead the US Federal Reserve early next year, and teased National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett as his possible choice, fueling further speculation about the next leader of the US central bank.
“We’ll be announcing somebody, probably early next year, for the new chairman of the Fed,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Hassett is seen as the likely choice to succeed Jerome Powell, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News last week, and Trump nodded to that position at a separate event shortly after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Photo: Reuters
“I guess a potential Fed chair is here too,” Trump said. “I don’t know who is allowed to say that — potential. He’s a respected person that I can tell you. Thank you, Kevin.”
Trump’s comments offer a clearer timeline for the announcement. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who has been overseeing the selection process, previously said the pick could be revealed around Christmas.
The US president said he considered about 10 candidates for the position, in consultation with Bessent and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, but now “we have it down to one.”
Still, Trump is known to make surprise personnel and policy decisions, meaning a nomination is not final until it is made public. Other finalists have included Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and BlackRock Inc chief investment officer for global fixed income Rick Rieder.
Trump for months has pressured the Fed to lower interest rates, and naming a successor to Powell, whose term as Fed Chair expires in May next year, would give the US president his biggest chance yet to reshape the institution. Although Powell’s term as chair ends next year, he could remain on the board for two more years as a governor.
Trump in September singled out Hassett, Warsh and Waller as his top three candidates.
Trump also regularly says he would like Bessent as chair, although the treasury secretary has repeatedly rejected the notion.
Fed chair and governor picks typically represent the most direct way for US presidents to influence the central bank. Trump has been vocal in criticizing the Fed for moving too slowly to cut borrowing costs and for expensive renovations of its campus. The White House is also engaged in litigation over Trump’s attempted dismissal of Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
Whoever Trump picks would require US Senate confirmation as chair. If the selection is an outsider, the person would likely receive a 14-year Fed governor term that begins on Feb. 1.
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