President Trump said he had made up his mind on who he would nominate to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, but stopped short of disclosing his pick during a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times.
“I have in my mind a decision,” he said during the interview on Wednesday night. “I haven’t talked about it with anybody.”
When asked specifically about Kevin A. Hassett, his top economic adviser, Mr. Trump said, “I don’t want to say,” but described him as “certainly one of the people that I like.”
Whomever Mr. Trump picks will inherit an institution that is at a critical juncture, at the center of a uniquely intense pressure campaign by the president in his bid for significantly lower borrowing costs. Jerome H. Powell, who will serve as chair until his term ends in May, has become one of Mr. Trump’s frequent targets, foreshadowing the firestorm the next chair could face if he does not deliver what the president wants.
Congress erected longstanding guardrails to keep the Fed insulated from political meddling and ensure that the central bank would be unencumbered in its pursuit of low, stable inflation and a healthy labor market. But Mr. Trump has been vocal about his desire to see the central bank act according to his wishes.
The president has explicitly said his pick for Fed chair must support lower borrowing costs and even went so far as to say that anybody who disagrees with him would never get the job.
His criteria has fanned fears that Mr. Powell’s replacement will struggle to uphold the Fed longstanding independence and grant the president much more input into the policy-setting process.
While the Fed chair’s views hold significant sway, rate decisions are voted on by the 12-person Federal Open Market Committee, which is made up of the seven board members in Washington, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a rotating set of four other regional presidents.
Mr. Hassett, who serves as director of the White House’s National Economic Council, has sought to allay concerns about how he would lead the institution since he emerged as the front-runner late last year. He has said Mr. Trump would have “no weight” in interest rate decisions, even as he suggested he would hear the president out.
Other contenders include Kevin M. Warsh, a former Fed governor who was close to clinching the job in the first Trump administration and Christopher J. Waller, a current governor at the central bank. Mr. Trump spoke highly of both candidates after interviewing each of them in December.
The Fed’s independence will face another crucial test early in 2026 stemming from a lawsuit involving Lisa D. Cook, a member of the Fed’s board of governors whom Mr. Trump tried to fire last year. On Jan. 21, the Supreme Court will hear arguments related to Ms. Cook’s case, the latest in a string of lawsuits tied to the president’s efforts to wrest more control over agencies that Congress established as independent.
Colby Smith covers the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for The Times.
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