Trump’s Fed Chair Hunt: Powell’s Successor Interviews Underway
Trump administration quietly lines up potential Fed Chair replacements as Powell's term winds down.
The Quiet Shuffle
Interviews are happening. Names are circulating. The Federal Reserve's top seat—arguably the world's most powerful economic lever—is up for grabs. The Trump White House isn't waiting for the official handover; they're vetting candidates now. It's a classic political maneuver—plan the succession before the incumbent even leaves the building.
Why This Matters for Markets
Monetary policy isn't just about interest rates and inflation targets anymore. It's about market sentiment, digital asset adoption, and the very credibility of the dollar. A new Fed Chair could mean a seismic shift in how the central bank views innovation, regulation, and the role of decentralized finance. Will they be a hawk? A dove? Or something entirely new—a crypto-curious pragmatist?
The Powell Legacy & The Digital Frontier
Jerome Powell presided over some of the most turbulent economic years in modern history. Pandemic response, inflation fights, banking crises. His successor inherits that legacy—plus the burgeoning challenge of integrating blockchain and digital currencies into the traditional financial system. The next Fed Chair will likely decide if the U.S. embraces a digital dollar or fights it.
The Bottom Line
This isn't just a personnel change. It's a signal. When political leadership starts interviewing for the most critical economic job on the planet, markets listen. Traders adjust. And in the crypto world, where monetary policy is both a threat and an opportunity, the stakes couldn't be higher. After all, what's a little central bank drama compared to the daily volatility of a memecoin? Just another day in finance—where the real power moves happen behind closed doors, long before the press release drops.
Hassett deemed early favorite, but not guaranteed
Hassett, who leads the National Economic Council, is supposedly the frontrunner for Powell’s seat despite concerns among some investors that he is too close to the US President and may support “unwarranted” rate cuts.
Those fears have circulated inside the Treasury and bond desks, where economists believe cut-throat reductions could increase inflation rates and unsettle the $30 trillion Treasury market. Still, the administration insists Hassett’s selection is not guaranteed, as they plan to conduct further interviews.
Trump’s camp also said the White House has floated the possibility of Hassett serving a shortened term as chair, though he WOULD still need Senate confirmation.
Secretary Bessent presented a list of four names to Trump earlier this month, with Hassett and Warsh included. The remaining two slots are expected to be filled by finalists from the group of Waller, Bowman and Rieder.
Interviews are scheduled to continue into next week, with a final decision planned for early January. Officials said Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles may attend some of the sessions.
“Personnel decisions to be made by President Trump will be announced directly by President Trump himself. Any discussion until then is pointless speculation,” a White House spokesperson told FT.
If Hassett moves to the Fed, Bessent is expected to assume leadership of the National Economic Council in the interim while keeping his Treasury role, according to four people familiar with internal planning.
Powell has not yet decided whether he will stay on the Fed board when his chairmanship ends next May. However, Trump hinted that he has already identified a preferred candidate, telling journalists aboard Air Force One on Tuesday: “We’re going to be looking at a couple different people, but I have a pretty good idea of who I want.”
Prediction markets change after Trump’s recent Fed commentary
President Trump, during a December 2 event at the White House, referred to Hassett as a “potential Fed chair” while greeting visitors. The former Fed governor’s odds to take Powell’s seat come 2026 on Kalshi and Polymarket jumped to 85% after the POTUS’s comments, before retreating to around 72% this week. Warsh’s odds are hovering NEAR 13%, while Waller’s chances stand at around 5%.
Trump has spent months questioning and bashing chair Powell and the Fed to lower borrowing rates during his second term, repeating complaints that the central bank was moving too slowly. The Federal Open Market Committee cut rates in September and again in October, the first reductions of Trump’s current term. A third cut is expected on Wednesday.
Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event on Tuesday, Hassett said that while he saw room for more cuts, “the most important job” of a Fed chair was “to be looking at the economic data and to avoid being part of politics”.
Trump accuses Biden of appointing Powell through an ‘autopen’
During a speech in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Trump continued bashing Jerome Powell’s position by claiming he had “just heard” that all four of Biden’s Federal Reserve appointments were approved by “autopen,” implying they may not be valid.
“It could be that all four commissioners in the Fed signed by Biden … I hear that the autopen may have signed those commissions.”
Trump derisively called Powell out for acting “too late” because economist JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon had urged the Fed chair to cut rates. “If they signed those commissions, now maybe I’m wrong, but we’re going to check,” he added.
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