Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that there’s a “very good chance” that President Donald Trump will name a new Fed chair by Christmas—and Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, has reportedly emerged as the front-runner to take Jerome Powell’s place in May.
Hassett played a central role in helping design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers during Trump’s first term. The longtime advisor to Trump is seen by other advisors and allies of the president as the favorite to be the next Federal Reserve chair, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Trump would have a close ally whom he knows well and who would bring the president’s approach to interest-rate cutting to the Fed, Bloomberg reported. Trump has criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting rates more aggressively in the past. Still,Trump is known to make surprise policy decisions, and a nomination is not final until it’s made public. “Until an announcement is made by President Trump, discussion about Fed nominations is speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fortune in a statement.
Hassett has previously said he’d agree to be Fed chair if nominated. “I want to serve my country, and I want to serve my president,” he toldFox News last week. “But you know, we’ll see how it goes. There are a lot of great candidates.”
