--- description: Bessent has named five finalists and Trump has indicated he'll make a decision by the end of the year. title: Who Does Trump Want to Be the Next Fed Chair? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0c708d9a4b84d12/6998c8cf47fe516d3955bf6a/trump-powell.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Economy](/tag/economy/) ## Economy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Who Does Trump Want to Be the Next Fed Chair?  by [Miranda Jeyaretnam](/author/miranda-jeyaretnam/)  ## Miranda Jeyaretnam Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Updated: Oct 27, 2025 9:23 AM CUTPublished: Aug 6, 2025 9:30 AM CUT  President Donald Trump presents Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with what Trump called a list of cost overruns for the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion headquarters renovation project in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 2025. President Donald Trump presents Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with what Trump called a list of cost overruns for the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion headquarters renovation project in Washington, D.C., on July 24, 2025.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Miranda Jeyaretnam](/author/miranda-jeyaretnam/)  ## Miranda Jeyaretnam Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Reporter Updated: Oct 27, 2025 9:23 AM CUTPublished: Aug 6, 2025 9:30 AM CUT President Donald Trump has made clear that he can’t wait to replace [Jerome Powell](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888421/jerome-powell-federal-reserve/ "undefined") as Federal Reserve Chair, and on Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the five finalists to succeed Powell. Bessent revealed to reporters the shortlist that includes one of the Fed’s current vice chairs, Michelle Bowman; Fed Governor Christopher Waller; former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh; White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett; and BlackRock executive Rick Rieder. Bessent said he plans to do another round of interviews and “present a good slate” to President Donald Trump after Thanksgiving. Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday that the decision may be made by the end of the year. Powell’s term as chair comes to an end in May 2026, although his term as a governor continues till 2028. Previously, the list of potential candidates [reportedly](https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/trump-fed-reserve-chair-search-expansion-3fe4ceaa "undefined") also included another of the Fed’s vice chairs, Philip Jefferson; Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan; economist Marc Sumerlin; and former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard. Who Trump ends up picking could determine both the course of the economy for the next four years and the credibility of the Federal Reserve. Already, economists and policymakers have[ raised concerns](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/business/trump-fed-chair-independence.html "undefined") that Trump’s attempts to[ pressure](https://time.com/7279727/trump-jerome-powell-scott-bessent/ "undefined") Powell, whom he has dubbed “Mr. Too Late,” to cut short-term interest rates have undermined the institution’s[ political independence](https://time.com/7010213/donald-trump-federal-reserve-politics/ "undefined"). Trump has spent months[ railing against Powell](https://time.com/7279727/trump-jerome-powell-scott-bessent/ "undefined") who has thus far resisted that pressure, and openly suggested that he could[ replace Powell sooner](https://time.com/7278723/can-fed-chair-powell-be-fired/ "undefined")—which he is not allowed to do except for cause—although he has also[ publicly said](https://apnews.com/article/trump-powell-federal-reserve-firing-interest-rates-b235d01f01f9762bc66a577d16ddeff2 "undefined") he’s “highly unlikely” to fire Powell. Trump called a _Wall Street Journal_[ report](https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/trump-jerome-powell-fed-chair-defense-4165e69b?mod=livecoverage%5Fweb "undefined") in July “typically untruthful” after it claimed that Bessent made the case to Trump to not fire Powell over legal concerns and economic risks. “Nobody had to explain that to me,” Trump[ posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114887244433511273 "undefined") on Truth Social. “I know better than anybody what’s good for the Market, and what’s good for the U.S.A.” Trump has, however, gotten a chance to install a fourth Republican on the Fed’s seven-member board of governors—which includes two nominees from his first term as well as Powell, who was appointed by former President Obama in a bipartisan gesture and nominated to be chairman by Trump in 2017—earlier than expected, after Adriana Kugler, a Democrat,[ announced](https://apnews.com/article/fed-reserve-trump-kugler-powell-332a2e185ca8bbe695c78b0c5a1eb73b "undefined") on August 1 that she was stepping down ahead of her term expiring in January. Trump nominated Stephen Miran, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, on a temporary basis. “In the meantime, we will continue to search for a permanent replacement” that would sit on the board for a full 14-year term, the President[ posted](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114989195031706823 "undefined") on Truth Social on August 8. Trump told CNBC days earlier that his pick to replace Kugler may also be his choice to replace Powell. It’s not yet clear, though, whether Miran’s nomination indicates that he could be up for Fed Chair, as he wasn’t listed as a candidate by Bessent, or whether it’s a matter of buying Trump more time, as[ some analysts have suggested](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-08/trump-s-surprise-fed-pick-buys-him-time-on-chair-selection "undefined"). Miran’s seat will be open again at the end of January, when Trump has another opportunity to nominate a governor—a prerequisite role for any Fed Chair nominee. Here’s what to know about Trump’s potential picks. ## **Michelle Bowman**  Michelle Bowman, vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve, during the Federal Reserve Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference in Washington, D.C., on July 22, 2025. Al Drago—Bloomberg/Getty Images Bowman was first nominated to the Fed’s board of governors by Trump in 2018 and reappointed in 2020\. She was also appointed by Trump to vice chair for supervision, the central bank’s top regulatory role, this year. Bowman is seen by some as the most politically conservative figure on the board, with the _New York Times_ [reporting](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/15/business/economy/michelle-bowman-fed-trump.html "undefined") that she and her family have previously donated to Republicans, mainly in Kansas. She also gained national attention last year after Vice President J.D. Vance, then as a Senator for Ohio, [cited one of her speeches](https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/jd-vance-following-debate-cites-sources-immigration-related-housing-costs "undefined") in order to back up his claim that immigration is worsening the housing affordability crisis in the U.S. Bowman’s views on interest rates have broadly aligned with Trump’s. She [dissented](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bowman20250801a.htm "undefined") in favor of a quarter-percentage-point cut when the Fed held interest rates for a fifth time in a row in July, and she [said](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bowman20250809a.htm "undefined") that this month’s weak jobs data reinforces her view that interest rates should be cut. She also said this month that she is increasingly sure [Trump’s tariffs](https://time.com/7306868/trump-tariffs-tracker-countries-rates-sectors-trade-deals-deadlines-timeline/ "undefined") “will not present a persistent shock to inflation.” Inflation has come down from a peak above 9% after the COVID-19 pandemic but has remained above the Fed’s 2% target. The Fed [aims to balance](https://apnews.com/article/inflation-consumer-prices-jerome-powell-fed-interest-rates-7956da9c097730929b12c269f8c08399 "undefined") price stability through managing inflation with promoting a strong jobs market. Economists have warned that Trump’s tariffs could lead to “stagflation,” where high unemployment stagnates but inflation remains persistently high. Bowman also [dissented](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bowman20240920a.htm "undefined") against the Fed’s half-point rate cut in September last year, stating that the Fed should have started with a quarter-point-rate cut. The dissension came at a time when Trump [claimed](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-feds-rate-cut-was-political-move-2024-09-20/ "undefined") that the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates before the November election was politically biased towards the Democrats. Bowman’s experience differs from many of the other candidates who have more traditional backgrounds in economics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising and journalism from the University of Kansas and a Juris Doctorate from the Washburn University School of Law. ## **Christopher Waller**  Fed Governor Christopher Waller at a Fed Listens event in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 23, 2022. Al Drago—Bloomberg/Getty Images Waller was nominated to the Fed’s board by Trump in 2020\. He previously served as executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and has held several roles in academia. Waller holds a PhD and master’s from Washington State University. Waller dissented, alongside Bowman, on the Fed’s rate-setting panel’s most recent decision to hold borrowing costs in July. It was the [first time in 30 years](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5427938-federal-reserve-interest-rates/ "undefined") that two governors dissented. “Tariffs are one-off increases in the price level and do not cause inflation beyond a temporary increase,” Waller [said](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20250801a.htm "undefined") in a statement explaining his dissent, pointing to risks to the labor market. “I believe that the wait and see approach is overly cautious, and, in my opinion, does not properly balance the risks to the outlook and could lead to policy falling behind the curve.” He has [reportedly](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-07/waller-emerges-as-favorite-for-fed-chair-among-trump-team "undefined") impressed Trump’s advisers by approaching policy through forecasting rather than current data. “I think that Governor Waller has really built up a really impressive track record in the last two years at the Fed with his predictions about inflation and with his predictions about where Fed policy needed to move to respond to that inflation,” Miran [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcDPcyF22Ic "undefined") on Bloomberg Television last week. “He’s done himself a big credit recently as well not coming to the ‘tariff derangement syndrome’ that many others throughout the country but particularly at the Fed seem to have succumbed to.” ## **Kevin Hassett**  Kevin Hassett walks into the West Wing of the White House on August 4, 2025. Win McNamee—Getty Images Hassett is a top economic adviser to Trump as the director of the National Economic Council. He formerly served as a senior adviser to Trump during his first presidential term as the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2017 to 2019. He returned to the White House in 2020 to assist with Trump’s COVID-19 response, during which time he [came under fire](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/business/coronavirus-white-house-economists.html "undefined") for [using a “cubic model”](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-advisor-kevin-hassett-excel-function-cubic-model-coronavirus-2020-5 "undefined") to project that pandemic deaths would reach zero by mid-May that year. Hassett is an [ardent supporter](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/14/trump-trade-tariffs-inflation.html "undefined") of Trump’s [economic agenda](https://time.com/7282875/trump-tariffs-economy-voters/ "undefined"), including Trump’s “[big beautiful bill](https://time.com/7300177/trump-signs-big-beautiful-bill/ "undefined"),” [tax cuts](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/06/16/trump-economist-business-tax-cuts-white-house/ "undefined"), and [tariffs](https://time.com/7306868/trump-tariffs-tracker-countries-rates-sectors-trade-deals-deadlines-timeline/ "undefined"). He has also [defended](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/economics/economic-adviser-kevin-hassett-defends-trumps-firing-labor-jobs-report-rcna222725 "undefined") Trump’s controversial [decision to fire](https://time.com/7307040/trump-jobs-fires-labor-report-commissioner/ "undefined") Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, earlier this month after the President baselessly asserted that recent monthly jobs data was “manipulated for political purposes.” Hassett [told](https://youtu.be/XTMgOLHRGfA?feature=shared&t=208 "undefined") CNBC on August 4 that “all over the U.S. government, there have been people who have been resisting Trump everywhere they can” and that a “fresh start” is needed to “make sure that that’s not going to happen in the data agencies.” A doctoral graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, Hassett was formerly a fellow at Stanford University’s conservative Hoover Institution and previously worked at center-right think tank the American Enterprise Institute. ## **Kevin Warsh**  Kevin Warsh speaks at the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2025. Tierney L. Cross—Bloomberg/Getty Images Warsh became the youngest Fed governor in the central bank’s history in 2006 at the age of 35 and served in that position until 2011, acting as the central bank’s primary liaison to Wall Street during the 2008 financial crisis. He worked as a mergers and acquisitions banker at Morgan Stanley from 1995 to 2002, when he joined the George W. Bush Administration as an economics adviser until being appointed to the Fed. Warsh has expressed support for lowering interest rates and criticized Powell over his refusal to do so. “The President’s right to be frustrated with Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve,” Warsh [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLpvGokLHek "undefined") on Fox News in July. He said at a lecture hosted by the Group of Thirty, an international body of economists and financial leaders, that “the Fed’s current wounds are largely self-inflicted,” and in July [told](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/17/kevin-warsh-touts-regime-change-at-fed-and-calls-for-partnership-with-treasury.html "undefined") CNBC that the Fed needs “regime change in the conduct of policy” and “a new Treasury-Fed accord, like we did in 1951 after another period where we built up our nation’s debt and we were stuck with a central bank that was working at cross purposes with the Treasury.” “That’s the state of things now,” he said on CNBC. “So if we have a new accord, then the … Fed chair and the Treasury Secretary can describe to markets plainly and with deliberation, ‘This is our objective for the size of the Fed’s balance sheet.’” But Warsh has also [advocated](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-15/trump-fed-chair-contender-kevin-warsh-ready-to-cut-interest-rates "undefined") for higher interest rates in the past, including last year, as well as for [free trade](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904007304576498110929470674#printMode "undefined"), [globalization](https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444799904578050742893108514 "undefined"), and the [Fed’s political independence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FSMdxdDdtM "undefined"), which could clash with Trump’s economic vision. Warsh is currently a fellow at the Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and he serves on the Panel of Economic Advisers of the Congressional Budget Office, which is nonpartisan. He is married to Jane Lauder, whose father, billionaire Estée Lauder heir Ronald Lauder, reportedly [pitched the idea](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/14/us/politics/trump-greenland.html "undefined") of buying Greenland to Trump. Warsh was [reportedly under consideration](https://time.com/4998249/critical-test-awaits-next-fed-chief/ "undefined") by Trump for the role of Fed Reserve Chair in 2017\. Trump [seemed to regret](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-15/trump-appears-to-lament-passing-over-warsh-for-powell-at-fed "undefined") not going with Warsh and ultimately picking Powell at the signing of a phase-one trade agreement with China in January 2020. “Kevin Warsh. Kevin. Where’s Kevin? I don’t know, Kevin, I could have used you a little bit here. Why weren’t you more forceful when you wanted that job?” Trump said. “I would have been very happy with you.” ## Rick Rieder  Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of fixed income for BlackRock Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York on March 1, 2018. Christopher Goodney—Bloomberg/Getty Images At BlackRock, the biggest asset manager globally, Rieder is the chief investment officer of global fixed income, head of fundamental fixed income business, and head of the global allocation investment team. He oversees a roughly $2.4 trillion bond portfolio, according to BlackRock, and has been [described](https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/rick-rieder-meet-the-guy-who-runs-a-massive-2-7-trillion-bond-portfolio/ "undefined") by Morningstar as having an “insatiable appetite for data.” Rieder joined BlackRock in 2009, after serving as president and CEO of R3 Capital Partners and working for two decades at Lehman Brothers. He has also served as vice chairman of the U.S. Treasury’s Borrowing Committee, and as a member of the Fed’s Investment Advisory Committee on Financial Markets. He graduated with a master’s in business administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1987 and attended Emory University at the undergraduate level. Rieder told [CNBC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXEon0ETphY "undefined") in August that the U.S. is in “the best investing environment ever.” He has also supported cutting interest rates, telling [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2025/09/09/bkaclrocks-rick-rieder-on-markets-rates-the-fed-and-more.html "undefined") in September that the Fed should cut interest rates by 50 basis points instead of the anticipated 25\. “Moving 25 basis points in the overnight funding rate is not that exciting,” he said. “Whoever ends up being Fed chair, there’s so many innovative things \[they could do\],” he said. “How do you use the balance sheet, how do you use liquidity, where on the yield curve is it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7307797/trump-federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell-kevin-hassett-warsh-bessent/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7307797/trump-federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell-kevin-hassett-warsh-bessent/"},"headline":"Who Does Trump Want to Be the Next Fed Chair?","datePublished":"2025-08-06T09:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2025-10-27T09:23:39.000Z","description":"Bessent has named five finalists and Trump has indicated he'll make a decision by the end of the year.","url":"https://time.com/7307797/trump-federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell-kevin-hassett-warsh-bessent/","keywords":["Economy","Donald Trump","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0c708d9a4b84d12/6998c8cf47fe516d3955bf6a/trump-powell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Miranda Jeyaretnam","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/miranda-jeyaretnam/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0c708d9a4b84d12/6998c8cf47fe516d3955bf6a/trump-powell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Visits Federal Reserve","caption":"President Trump Visits Federal Reserve","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/economy/","name":"Economy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7307797/trump-federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell-kevin-hassett-warsh-bessent/","name":"Who Does Trump Want to Be the Next Fed Chair?"}}]}] ```