Finance Minister Scott Bessnt on Tuesday confirmed that Trump’s administration launched the “formal process” to identify the potential successor of the President of the Federal President Jerome Powell, whose current period ends in May 2026.
Comments come in the middle of the growing frustration of the White House with Powell’s currency policy, in particular his refusal to reduce interest rates despite the repeated challenges of President Donald Trump.
There is a narrower list of applicants
Bessnt himself is reportedly on the narrower selection of candidates, along with former Governor Fed Kevin Warsh and the director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett. However, he remained all the rumors of the parallel or “shadow” arrangement of the Fed chair and called such speculation potentially destabilizing.
“There was a lot of talk about a chaired with a shadow of a fed that caused confusion before its nomination, and I can tell you that it would be very confusing that the market for the former Fed chairs will remain,” he said.
No double role but will follow Trump’s leadership
Asked if he would consider taking the double role of the Minister of Finance and President of the Fed, Bessnt raised this question, but emphasized the loyalty to the president. “I think I have the best job in the city. I will do what President Trump wants,” he said. “I am part of the decision -making process, but again, the final decision will be President Trump.”
Trump amplifies attacks on Powell
President Trump is critical of Powell. On Monday, Trump killed Powell for non -discipline of interest rates, despite signs of cooling inflation.
“We have a bad chairman of the Fed, really bad,” Trump told reporters. “I tried to be nice to the guy. He doesn’t help. He’s like knucklehead. Oh, it’s Knucklehead, a stupid guy. He’s really.”
The President has repeatedly stated that rates should fall below 1%, which is far below the current range of 4.25%to 4.5%.
White House: Powell will not be fired yet – yet
Despite the Rhetoric of Bessnt, he explained that the administration is currently planning to remove Powell before expiry. “We don’t want to shoot him,” Bessnt said, even though the administration examines legal and political ways to transform the Fed leadership in 2025.
Check over the reconstruction of the Fed and the testimony of the Senate
The White House also allegedly promotes a congress investigation whether Powell mislead the legislature of the renovation of the federal reserve of $ 2.5 billion. This control contributes to the pressure on the Fed chair, even if it maintains its refusal to resign or commit to stay as a Fed governor after the chair’s period.
The Powell period of the Governor runs until 2028, allowing him to remain a voting member of the Federal Committee on the Open Market (FOMC) after 2026 – an option that further complicates Trump’s calculations.
(Tagstotranslate) Trump Administration
