Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed Tuesday that a formal process has begun to find a replacement for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
Bessent acknowledged the ongoing search for Powell’s successor while speaking during a Bloomberg Surveillance interview.
“There are a lot of great candidates, and we’ll see how rapidly it progresses,” he stated.
The treasury secretary indicated that retaining Powell beyond his current term would not be logical.
His comments mark the first official confirmation from the Trump administration regarding concrete steps to remove the Fed chairman.
President Trump has escalated his attacks on Powell throughout the past month.
The president has consistently accused the chairman of poor monetary policy management and sluggish responses to economic challenges.
Trump recently suggested he might take direct control of the Federal Reserve himself.
“Maybe I should go to the Fed… Am I allowed to appoint myself at the Fed? I’d do a much better job than these people,” he remarked, per reports.
The president has used harsh language to describe Powell’s performance.
Trump has called him “stupid,” “too late,” and “a numbskull” in various public statements.
Trump has persistently demanded that the Federal Reserve implement a full percentage point rate cut to stimulate