US Treasury Secretary Bessent Reportedly Questioning Fed Chair Candidates on Interest Rates

The meetings/interviews took place over several weeks and ended early Tuesday, according to sources. There were 11 candidates and all were interviewed for two hours by US Treasury Secretary Bessent, Treasury Official Hunter McMaster and Advisor Francis Browne.

Bessent reportedly questioned the candidates on their stance on interest rates and questioned their views on his own recent remarks in favor of reforms at the Fed as well as his criticism of QE. The people cited also say the candidates were also asked about governance and how they would respond to allegations that the Fed overstepped its mandate, i.e. “mission drift.”

Either way, Trump will have the final say in all of this, so technically the process here doesn’t matter too much. Among the frontrunners are former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, current Governor Christopher Waller and current economic adviser Kevin Hassett. But it is also said that Rick Rieder, CIO of BlacRock, also behaved “very well” during the interview.

As a reminder, outgoing Fed Chair Powell’s term doesn’t end until May next year, but he can remain governor until 2028. That said, most Fed chairs immediately resigned from their role at the central bank once their term ended. So I wouldn’t expect Powell to stay longer than necessary to deal with more harassment.