Waller says interview for Fed chair went ‘great’, not political

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(Reuters) -Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday said his interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to be the next U.S. central bank chief went well and was not at all political.

Waller, seen as top contender to succeed Chair Jerome Powell next year, told CNBC the interview was “all serious economics.”

CNBC reported earlier that Waller was among five remaining candidates under consideration to succeed Powell when the current chair’s term expires in May.

“I don’t know if I am a finalist or not,” Waller said. “I thought the interview went well. I didn’t get hit by a pitch.”

Bessent, who is doing the main job of vetting candidates for President Donald Trump to nominate for the job, has had preliminary interviews with as many as 11 candidates.

But citing unnamed senior Treasury officials CNBC reported that list had been winnowed down to five: Waller, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, White House National Economic Council Chair Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and investment firm BlackRock’s chief investment officer for fixed income, Rick Rieder.

Hassett remains the favorite on betting markets Kalshi and Polymarket, with Waller holding the second spot in contracts on both platforms wagering on who Trump will nominate.

The Republican president has demanded the Fed slash interest rates and routinely rails against Powell, whom Trump installed as Fed chair during his first term in the White House but quickly soured on.

“Was actually a great interview,” said Waller, who was appointed to the Fed by Trump in 2020. “I mean, it was a lot of discussion about various aspects of talking about various speeches I’ve given my points of view, they’ve kind of wanted to follow up on tales of it. I just thought it was great. I mean, it was really there was nothing political about it. There was nothing. It was all serious economic discussion. So that’s why I thought it was brilliant.”

The question of political interference with the Fed – and its status as an independent body – is a central issue now that Trump has taken the unprecedented step of attempting to fire a sitting Fed governor, Lisa Cook, over allegations of fraudulent applications for a home mortgage.

Cook denies the allegation, no charges have yet been filed, and her legal challenge to his attempt to dismiss her will be argued at the Supreme Court in January.

(Reporting by Dan Burns and Howard Schneider Editing by Mark Potter and Nick Zieminski)