Bessent lists five finalists for Fed chair job and Trump says decision coming before the end of the year
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., Oct. 22, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday confirmed that the list of candidates to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been winnowed down to five, with the winner likely to be named by the end of the year.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Bessent said the finalists are current Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, former Governor Kevin Warsh and BlackRock executive Rick Rieder, according to several media outlets.
Those names were reported earlier this month by CNBC.
Bessent, who had been rumored to be a top candidate as well, has been conducting interviews and said he expects to do one more round before presenting a “good slate” to Trump after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Trump himself told reporters that he anticipates naming a replacement by the end of the year, though Powell’s term does not expire until May 2026. Powell then either can step down from the Fed entirely, or continue serving a term as governor that lasts until 2028.
The Federal Open Market Committee meets this week, with an interest rate decision due Wednesday. Markets are pricing in a near certainty that the committee will lower its benchmark overnight borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point, which would follow a similar cut in September.
Trump currently has three appointees on the seven-member Board of Governors: Waller and Bowman, as well as Stephen Miran who is filling an unexpired term that ends in January. Miran, the head of the Council of Economic Advisers who was confirmed in September, is not expected to be reappointed. He has campaigned for the FOMC to be more aggressive in easing.
Should Powell opt to leave the Fed, that would give Trump four appointees. He thus far has been unsuccessful in trying to remove Governor Lisa Cook from the board. A rotating cast of five regional presidents joins the governors as voters during the FOMC meeting.
