President Trump is beginning interviews with candidates for the next Federal Reserve chair, starting today with former Fed governor Kevin Warsh today, according to a source familiar with the process.
Trump has five finalists on his list, including National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, widely thought to be the frontrunner, whom Trump is expected to meet soon, along with other candidates.
The others on the shortlist are Fed governors Chris Waller and Michelle Bowman, as well as BlackRock head of fixed income Rick Rieder.
“We’re going to be looking at a couple of different people, but I have a pretty good idea of who I want,” Trump said on Air Force One Tuesday night.
Read more: How much control does the president have over the Fed and interest rates?
The president has previously said he knows who he wants to put in place and will probably make an announcement early next year. Trump told Politico on Tuesday that a test for the next Fed chair is whether they want to lower rates immediately.
“Personnel decisions to be made by President Trump will be announced directly by President Trump himself,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Yahoo Finance. “Any discussion until then is pointless speculation.”
Warsh served as Fed governor from 2006 until 2011 and has been highly critical of the central bank. He recently wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the Fed should “discard its forecast of stagflation” and argued that the central bank is overlooking that AI will be a “significant” force that will boost productivity and push down inflation.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been leading the interview process. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Wednesday that Trump will sit down with candidates in the coming days. The Journal cited an official cautioning that the interviews would be canceled or postponed, which happened recently ahead of meetings scheduled with Vice President JD Vance.
Trump has been gunning to replace current Chair Jerome Powell, who has not acted to lower interest rates as aggressively as Trump would like. Powell’s term ends in May.
Jennifer Schonberger covers the Federal Reserve, Congress, the White House, the Treasury, the SEC, the economy, cryptocurrencies, and the intersection of Washington policy with finance. Follow her on X @Jenniferisms and on Instagram.
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