Trump administration expands search for Fed chair, adds new names to list

The team chosen by Trump has been reviewing several contenders, including a former Fed president and a longtime economic consultant

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With United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's term set to end in May next year, President Donald Trump has been looking for an ideal candidate to replace the Fed chair. The Trump administration has been adding new names to the probable candidate list, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

 

Trump, who has often criticised Powell's cautious stance on rate cuts, had recently said that he would let Powell complete his current term. However, the search for a replacement remains active.

List of candidates

The team chosen by Trump to finalise a replacement has been reviewing several contenders, including a former Fed president and a longtime economic consultant. Here's a list of the Fed chair candidates:

• James Bullard: Former St Louis Fed President
• Marc Sumerlin: Former economic adviser to President George W Bush
• Kevin Hassett: National Economic Council director
• Christopher Waller: Fed governor
• Kevin Warsh: Former Fed governor

According to the WSJ, Bullard and Sumerlin are the fresh names added to the long list that comprises at least 10 candidates.

Who are Bullard and Sumerlin?

Bullard is the former president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, a role he held until 2023, when he left to become dean of Purdue University’s business school. In 2019, he recommended his then–research director, Christopher Waller, as a potential Federal Reserve Board nominee, a suggestion that led to Waller’s eventual nomination by Donald Trump. Bullard has also said publicly that he would be interested in serving as Fed chair if given the chance. 

 

Sumerlin is an economist who served as deputy director of the National Economic Council and was an adviser to George W Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign. More recently, he has led his own economic advisory firm.

Waller emerging a top choice: Report

The expansion of the search comes as a surprise as Trump had recently hinted that he had finalised some names for the job. According to a Bloomberg report, Waller had emerged as a top choice because of his deep understanding of the system and his willingness to decide on policy based on forecasts instead of current data.

 

Other top contenders included Warsh and Hassett, the WSJ reported. However, the ongoing search cast shadows on the position of these candidates as the frontrunners for replacing Powell.

 

Narrowing the list of top contenders and then expanding it isn't new for Trump, who did something similar while appointing his Treasury secretary in November. After Scott Bessent and current Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were seen as the frontrunners, Trump requested interviews with more candidates for the role, among them was Kevin Warsh. In the end, he chose Bessent.