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 frontrunner to take Jerome Powell’s place in May.
Hassett played a central role in helping to design and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers during Trump’s first term. The longtime adviser to Trump is seen by advisers and allies of the president as the favorite to be the next Federal Reserve chair, Bloombergreported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Trump would have a close ally whom the president knows well and 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 and policy decisions, and that 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.”
Bessent, who is running the selection process, narrowed down a pool of nearly a dozen candidates to five: Hassett, former federal reserve governor Kevin Warsh, current Trump-appointed Fed governor Waller, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and BlackRock’s Rick Rieder. He said the interviews with the candidates will end this week, and a subset of finalists will meet with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance. The nominated Fed chair will also need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Though Hassett has previously warned of the negative effects of tariffs on economic growth and argued that increased immigration spurs the economy—views that are at odds with Trump’s policies—the economist toldFox News this week that the economy is headed towards “an absolute blockbuster year” in 2026.
Though GDP growth took a hit in the fourth quarter in large part due to the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, Hassett predicted that Trump’s lower corporate tax rates for domestic manufacturing and industrial policies supporting a factory buildout will drive next year’s job and GDP surge.
“Things are lifting off after this quarter,” Hassett toldFox News’ Maria Bartiromo during its latest “Sunday Morning Futures” program.
Hassett also aligns with Trump’s aims to cut interest rates. He told Fox News that he would “be cutting rates right now” if he were the chair of the Fed because “the data suggests that we should.”
