Trump to start final Fed chair interviews beginning with Kevin Warsh
President Donald Trump will begin final interviews this week on candidates for the Federal Reserve chair, getting the formal selection process that began this summer back on track.
“We’re going to look at a few different people, but I have a pretty good idea of who I want,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Tuesday night.
Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s talks will begin Wednesday with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and will at some point include National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, according to two sources. It restarts the process, which was somewhat derailed last week when interviews with candidates were abruptly canceled.
Trump recently said he knew who he would choose to replace current Chairman Jerome Powell, and prediction markets overwhelmingly said he believed it would be Hassett. But his possible choice has faced some backlash from markets recently, particularly among fixed-income investors who are concerned that Hassett will simply do Trump’s bidding and keep rates too low even if inflation returns.
So it’s unclear whether these interviews are a sign that Trump has changed his mind or are just the final stage of the official process.
CNBC first reported in October that Trump had narrowed his list of candidates to five. Four of these five people will be part of these final talks. The group also includes current Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, as well as BlackRock fixed income chief Rick Rieder.
The Fed will probably cut interest rates for the third time this year on Wednesday, but Powell, whose term as chairman expires in May, is expected to use a cautious tone in the post-meeting press conference about how much the central bank will cut interest rates next year. The Fed’s last forecast, released in September, called for only one rate cut next year.
Powell’s hawkish tone on Wednesday could further irritate Trump, who is trying to restructure the Fed to favor a lower interest rate regime. Trump reiterated in a Politico interview published Tuesday that he would test candidates on whether they are willing to cut interest rates even further.
Warsh declined to comment to CNBC.
