Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent narrows Fed chair search to 5 candidates

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has reduced the crowded field for the Federal Reserve chair down to five contenders after a series of long interviews, some running for two hours.

The cut from 11 candidates to 5, announced late this week, marks the most important step yet in a process that will stretch into early next year.

The next Fed leader could be nominated by January, though officials stressed that the person may first be named as a governor before being elevated to chair.

The five names left are Michelle Bowman, who is the Fed’s Vice Chair for Supervision, Christopher Waller, a Fed governor, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Warsh, who served as a Fed governor in the past, and Rick Rieder, chief investment officer for fixed income at BlackRock. These names will now face another round of questioning in the weeks ahead.

Scott Bessent prepares more interviews with candidates

Scott will personally lead the next round of interviews, joined by two top Treasury officials and two senior White House officials. The plan is to speak again with each candidate before the end of the year. But the calendar is tight.

Next week Scott attends the World Bank and IMF meetings in Washington. After that he travels to Asia with President Donald Trump for a long overseas trip. Because of this schedule, officials said the interviews might not be completed until after Thanksgiving.

Once the interviews are done, Scott intends to deliver a smaller list of finalists directly to Trump. The president will then make the final call. Officials noted the process could unfold in stages. The nominee could first take a governor’s seat before later being named as chair.

That decision depends on which seats are open. Jerome Powell’s chairmanship ends in May, but the governor’s seat he holds carries only two years left.

Another seat, once held by Adriana Kugler and now filled by Stephen Miran, expires in January and comes with a full 14‑year term. Installing the new Fed leader into that spot could give the administration more time and stability, but officials warned that nothing is settled yet.

Trump has already labeled Warsh, Hassett, and Waller as finalists in earlier announcements. That means Bowman and Rieder are the only fresh names being moved forward to the White House. Compared to past administrations, this one has kept the process more open, revealing the pool of names publicly as it shifted.

The political fight around the Fed is sharper than ever. Trump has demanded steep rate cuts and repeatedly attacked the Fed for not moving fast enough. He has also threatened to fire Powell outright and went further when he dismissed Fed governor Lisa Cook, accusing her of mortgage fraud.

Cook denied those allegations, and lower courts blocked the move. The case now heads to the Supreme Court in January. The drama over Cook has deepened questions about whether the White House respects the Fed’s independence, making the decision on the next chair a high‑stakes moment.

Rick Rieder makes an impression on Scott Bessent

Treasury officials also outlined what Scott is seeking in the next Fed leader. They said he wants someone open to new ideas in running monetary policy, and someone with experience in economics, regulation, and management.

Scott has already written an essay blasting the Fed for getting too large and for what he called “mission creep.” In that piece, he called for reviews of the central bank’s mission, tools, and structure. He argued the Fed should scale back and reduce its reliance on policies like quantitative easing.

Officials emphasized that no single candidate is ahead right now. Still, they admitted that Rick Rieder caught Scott’s attention. Rieder is well known in markets, often appearing on CNBC to discuss bonds and central bank moves.

At BlackRock, he oversees one of the largest fixed income teams in the world. His detailed analysis of the Fed is widely followed by investors. One factor working in his favor is that he is the only candidate who has never worked at the Fed. Some officials suggested that could help him bring an outside view into an institution often seen as too insular.

The administration’s process now moves into the next round of talks, interviews, and travel. With Powell’s term ending in May and Miran’s seat expiring in January, the decisions made over the coming weeks will set the direction of the Fed for years to come.

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