Kevin Hassett emerges as frontrunner in Trump Fed Chair audition

U.S. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is seen by advisers and allies of President Donald Trump as the frontrunner to be the next Federal Reserve chair, according to people familiar with the matter, as the search for a new central bank leader enters its final weeks.

With Hassett, Trump would have a close ally whom the president knows well and trusts installed at the independent central bank, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Hassett is seen as someone who would bring the president’s approach to interest-rate cutting to the Fed, which Trump has long wanted to control, some of the people said.

Still, Trump is known to make surprise personnel and policy decisions, meaning a nomination is not final until it’s made public, they said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement said, “nobody actually knows what President Trump will do until he does it. Stay tuned!”

Fed chair and governor picks are historically the most direct way a president can influence the central bank. Trump nominated current Chair Jerome Powell during his first term. He came to regret the decision when Powell didn’t push for lower interest rates at the pace Trump wanted.

Hassett is seen as closely aligned to Trump’s view on the economy, including that interest rates need to be lowered. He told Fox News on Nov. 20 that he would “be cutting rates right now” if he were the chair of the Fed because “the data suggests that we should.” Hassett has also criticized the central bank for losing control of inflation in the wake of the pandemic.

The Fed has repeatedly served as a punching bag for Trump, with the president lambasting Powell for being “too late” to cut borrowing costs and publicly musing about firing him. The president has also assailed renovations on the central bank’s campus and the White House is currently engaged in litigation over Trump’s attempted dismissal of Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

That’s put pressure on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is leading the selection process for the next Fed chair, to carefully balance candidates who are in favor of slashing borrowing costs and have the trust of both the president and financial markets.

After being on hold for most of 2025, the Fed began lowering interest rates this fall, cutting its benchmark rate by 25 basis points in both September and October. But officials have grown increasingly divided over the outlook for inflation and the labor market, likely making a cut at their next meeting in December a close call.

Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday there’s a good chance Trump could announce his Fed chair selection within the next month, before the Dec. 25 Christmas holiday.

Trump himself has teased that he is close to making a selection. Trump on Nov. 18 said, “I think I already know my choice,” without revealing whom he would select as chair. In September, Trump said that Hassett, along with ex-Fed official Kevin Warsh and current central bank governor Christopher Waller, were the top three candidates.

Interview Process
Since the summer, Bessent has run the selection process to replace Powell, interviewing nearly a dozen candidates that have now been whittled down to five contenders: Hassett, Warsh, Waller, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and BlackRock Inc.’s Rick Rieder.

Bessent said interviews with those candidates will end this week. A smaller subset of finalists will soon meet with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance.

The coalescing around Hassett comes as Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Powell. Trump last week called the Fed chair “grossly incompetent,” saying he would love to fire Powell if it weren’t for people like Bessent urging him to hold off. He went on to say, in a joking tone, that if Bessent doesn’t help secure lower interest rates, he’d also dismiss the Treasury chief.

Despite the quip, Bessent remains in good standing with Trump, who has repeatedly said that he’s considered the Treasury chief as a contender to serve as Fed chair. Bessent says he likes his job at Treasury and doesn’t want to lead the central bank.

The next chair is likely to be named to a 14-year Fed governor term that opens on Feb. 1. The term that expires at that time is currently held by Stephen Miran, who is on unpaid leave from the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Powell’s term as chair of the central bank ends in May 2026, though he could remain on the board for two more years as a governor.

Powell has not said whether he intends to step down from the board when his term as chair expires. If he did, that would provide the administration with another vacancy to fill next year.