US Treasury chief says interviews for potential Fed chair to begin after Labor Day

ISTANBUL

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday he will start interviewing potential candidates for the next Federal Reserve chair after Sept. 1, or Labor Day.

Bessent confirmed to CNBC that potential candidates comprise 11 names, a group including current and past Fed officials, economists, a White House advisor and Wall Street experts.

“In terms of the interview process, we’ve announced 11 very strong candidates. I’m going to be meeting with them probably right after Labor Day, and to start bringing down the list to present to President Trump,” Bessent told CNBC. “It’s an incredible group.”

The list reportedly includes names such as Fed governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller; Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan; White House economist Kevin Hassett; and former governors Kevin Warsh and Larry Lindsey. Strategists Rick Rieder of BlackRock and David Zervos of Jefferies are also part of the group, as well as economist Marc Sumerlin and former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, according to CNBC.

The current Fed chair Jerome Powell's tenure does not expire until May 2026, but the US administration is seeking to move the process up since President Donald Trump believes an interest rate reduction is urgently needed.

Reiterating the administration's demand for monetary policy easing, Bessent said that it would boost the flagging US housing market.

“If we keep constraining home building, then what kind of inflation does that create one or two years out?” he said. “So, a big cut here could facilitate a boom or a pickup in home building, which will keep prices down one, two years down the road.”

The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is in September, when the central bank is expected to cut rates for the first time since December 2024.

While the producer price index reading in July showed the biggest monthly gain in three years, Bessent said he was not worried since he ascribed it to an increase in portfolio fees linked to rising stock market prices.