Scott Bessent to give Trump Federal Reserve Chair options in December
Posted on: Oct 15, 2025 21:21 IST | Posted by: Hindustantimes
treasury obligations secretarial assistant Scott Bessent said he would present President Donald Trump with a list of candidates to serve as the next chair of the Federal Reserve in December.
“Likely sometime after Thanksgiving, in December, we’ll present the president with three or four candidates for him to interview,” Bessent told CNBC on Wednesday.
Bessent said he’s culled the list of 11 candidates he interviewed to five. CNBC has previously reported those five candidates are Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, Fed Governor Christopher Waller, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and BlackRock Inc. Executive Rick Rieder.
“At the end of the day, he’ll take input like he always does, from dozens, hundreds of people, and then make a decision,” Bessent said about Trump’s decision-making process.
The Treasury secretary said he would not be the next Fed chair, reiterating an earlier assertion that he is not part of the pool of contenders.
Bessent has led the search to find the next person to serve as Fed chair when Jerome Powell’s term leading the central bank expires in May 2026.
The search for Powell’s successor places the candidates in a precarious balancing act. They all must signal to Trump that they are keen to slash interest rates, while also demonstrating to markets that they have the economic expertise to do the job and will act independently of the White House.
Trump, who has repeatedly lambasted Powell for being too slow to lower borrowing costs, has said he wants the central bank to sharply cut interest rates by three percentage points. But investors worry such a drastic move could tip the bond markets into turmoil and cause inflation to surge.
Bessent didn’t directly address whether a candidate needs to support lowering interest rates, saying he has two criteria for candidates.
“One, do you have an open mind? What’s your theory of the case?,” he said.
“This is also a gigantic, sprawling organization that does payments, regulation. So there also needs to be a management level here,” Bessent added.
The next chair is likely to be named to a 14-year Fed governor term which opens up in early 2026. Trump is also seeking to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud. The Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for January, but has said she can stay in the job while the legal case is pending.
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