Bessent says he plans to present Fed chief candidates to Trump in December ReutersOctober 16, 2025 at 2:11 AM 0 U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 5, 2025.
- - Bessent says he plans to present Fed chief candidates to Trump in December
ReutersOctober 16, 2025 at 2:11 AM
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 5, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said he plans to present three or four candidates to be the next leader of the Federal Reserve to President Donald Trump for him to interview sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday in late November.
Bessent said at a CNBC event held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington that he has narrowed the list of candidates to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May, from 11 to five.
It is a decision being closely watched around the world as it could offer Trump the potential to expand his influence over a central bank that has long guarded its independence to make decisions on monetary policy without interference by elected officials.
"We will have to push out the next round to after the Asia trip," Bessent said, referring to Trump's scheduled visit to the region for two regional summits starting later this month.
"So I suspect that will go on in November and then likely sometime after Thanksgiving, in December, we'll present the president with three or four candidates for him to interview."
"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.
Asked if one of the criteria to succeed Powell is a desire to lower interest rates, something Trump regularly demands, Bessent said: "One of the criteria is to have an open mind."
Trump, a Republican, has routinely lashed out at Powell and the U.S. central bank more widely for not lowering interest rates at the speed and magnitude he desires.
The Fed cut rates in September for the first time since Trump returned to office in January, lowering its benchmark short-term rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.00% to 4.25% out of growing concerns about a softening job market, and more such reductions are expected at the two meetings remaining this year.
Trump, though, has said rates should be as low as 1%, and at times has threatened to try to remove Powell for not abiding by his demands. In August he took the unprecedented step of attempting to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, over so-far unproven allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook, who denies the allegations, has sued to retain her position, and the case will be heard by the Supreme Court in January.
Bessent's remarks suggest the process for installing a replacement to Powell - including the required confirmation by the U.S. Senate - could stretch into next year.
Powell was originally appointed to the Fed Board of Governors by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and elevated to Fed chair by Trump in 2018, but Trump soon soured on him. Trump has appointed three of the other seven Fed Board members, including the recent addition of his Council of Economic Advisers director Stephen Miran to fill a seat unexpectedly vacated by the departure in August of Adriana Kugler from the board.
Miran's seat expires at the end of January, and Cook remains in place while the case over her firing continues, which may complicate how Bessent proceeds with selecting a successor.
CNBC and others have reported that two of the five remaining candidates are currently on the board - Trump's other two appointees, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller.
Opting for one of them would allow Trump to consider reappointing Miran to a full 14-year term. But picking one of the other three reported finalists - National Economic Council Chair Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh or investment firm BlackRock's chief investment officer for fixed income Rick Rieder - would likely require having a vacant seat, and Miran's is the only one set to expire in the near term.
Powell, meanwhile, has not made clear whether he will remain on the Fed board after his term as chair expires in May. His board seat term extends to January 31, 2028, and he could choose to serve that out, although no former chair has remained since Marriner Eccles stayed on the board for three years after stepping down as chair in 1948.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)
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