Bessent says White House will start interviewing candidates for next Fed chair this fall

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said the White House will start interviewing candidates this fall to succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May 2026.

Bessent, speaking with Bloomberg TV during a visit to Argentina, said that would give the Trump administration about six months lead time before Powell leaves office. He gave no further details.

U.S. President Donald Trump has pressed the Fed repeatedly to lower interest rates, posting on Truth Social on April 4: “CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”

Bessent said he was not concerned about Trump ousting Powell or challenging the independence of the Fed. But he said he did see room for more discussion on the Fed’s role as a bank regulator.

“I’ve repeatedly said the Fed has two duties, and I believe that monetary policy is a jewel box that’s got to be preserved. And then they have regulatory policies. And I think we can have more of a discussion, because the Fed is one among three bank regulators. There’s the Fed, Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC. So I think it’s very easy to delineated between the two,” he said.

Bessent said he had breakfast with Powell every week and they discussed a wide range of things. Asked if he had discussed contingency plans with Powell if financial stability risks flared, Bessent said, “Specifically, did we discuss some kind of break the glass? I think we’re a long way from that.”

He said he last saw Powell last week during a visit to the Federal Reserve, and did not hear particular concerns about recent developments in bond markets. “It seems like business as usual,” he added.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)