Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has faced significant criticism from the Trump administration over the central bank’s stance on holding interest rates steady in recent months, and the president is reportedly considering a member of his Cabinet as Powell’s successor.
Powell has less than a year remaining in his term as Fed chair, which is due to expire in May 2026. President Donald Trump, who nominated Powell to the role in 2017, has signaled he won’t nominate the chair for another term and recently gave Powell the derisive nickname of “Mr. Too Late” amid his efforts to lobby the Fed to cut interest rates.
Trump has suggested he could name Powell’s successor in the near future, well in advance of the end of Powell’s term as chair, and has reportedly developed a short list of contenders in mind.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is one of the leading contenders for the role of Fed chair, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter, though the outlet noted the administration hasn’t started formal interviews.
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Bloomberg reported that former Fed official Kevin Warsh, who Trump considered for the treasury secretary role before opting to nominate Bessent, is also on the short list for the Fed chair role.
Bessent testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday and was asked about reports linking him to the Fed chair role and whether he would rather have that role or remain as the Treasury secretary.
The secretary said that his current role is “the best job” in the nation’s capital and that while he is “happy to do what President Trump wants me to do,” he “would like to stay in my seat through 2029” to advance the administration’s agenda until the end of the president’s term.
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Trump’s criticism of the Fed was a fixture of his first term, when he called Powell and other central bank leaders “boneheads” in 2019 for not lowering interest rates to “ZERO, or less” to refinance the national debt and spur the economy.
Since his return to the White House for a second term as president earlier this year, Trump has said “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough” and that the Fed chair is “always TOO LATE AND WRONG.”
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He also urged the Fed to move forward with “preemptive cuts” to interest rates, which contributed to a steep market sell-off in April amid uncertainty over trade policy. Trump also called Powell a “loser” in addition to “Mr. Too Late.”
Trump later backtracked on his threat to fire Powell, telling reporters he had “no intention of firing him.” After the Fed held interest rates steady for the third straight meeting in May, Trump wrote that Powell is a “FOOL, who doesn’t have a clue. Other than that, I like him very much!”
Powell has reiterated in press conferences in response to reporters’ questions that he intends to serve out his term as chair, though he hasn’t indicated whether he plans to continue to serve as a Fed governor once his chairmanship ends.
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When asked whether the president has the authority to terminate his chairmanship before the conclusion of his term, Powell said that would not be permitted under law.
