U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to the press, on the day of U.S.-China talks on trade, economic and national security issues, in Madrid, Spain, September 15, 2025.
Violeta Santos Moura | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday he expects President Donald Trump to make a decision on the new Federal Reserve chair by the holiday season.
In a CNBC interview, Bessent, who has been heading the search for a successor to current Chair Jerome Powell, said he still has one interview to go and was not ready to speculate on who might get the job.
“I think there’s a very good chance that the president will make an announcement before Christmas,” he said. “But it’s his prerogative, whether It’s the before the Christmas holidays or in the new year. But I think things are moving along very well.”
Trump has been a fierce Fed critic and recently said he’d “love” to fire Powell and encouraged Bessent to “work on” the chair to get the central bank to lower its key interest rate.
Referring to Bessent, Trump even joked that “if you don’t get it fixed fast, I’m gonna fire your ass.”
“If you were in the if you were in the room, he was joking,” Bessent said. “We’ve gotten to this point where monetary policy has gotten very complicated, and it’s more than just cutting rates.”
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