President Donald Trump has threatened to sue Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over the costly bank restructuring project.
Before the New Year holiday, President Donald Trump said he will make a decision on who he wants to lead the Federal Reserve in January.
Current Chairman Jerome Powell’s term ends in May 2026, and he has made it clear that he will fulfill his responsibility to run the central bank.
This week, Trump continued his verbal attacks on Powell, calling him “too late” for failing to lower interest rates quickly. He also called him a “fool” and criticized him for the renovation of the Fed’s Washington, DC headquarters, which has gone over budget.
FOX Business is looking at the list of contenders, which has been narrowed to four, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who helped vet the candidates.
Some are connected to the central bank and the White House, while another holds a senior position at the world’s largest asset manager.
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Kevin Hassett
Kevin Hassett is the director of the National Economic Council. (Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Hassett, who is reportedly one of the two front-runners, is on his second run on the Trump trail. He is the director of the National Economic Council. In Trump’s first administration, he was a senior adviser and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Both agencies work closely with the White House on economic policies.
After the US economy grew by 4.3% in the third quarter, Hassett took a triumphant break from the White House. “Trump’s policies are working, and they’re clearly working because we’ve seen the data,” he said during an interview with FOX Business Network’s “Kudlow” after the report.
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Kevin Warsh
Former Federal Reserve Board Governor Kevin Warsh discusses the importance of ADP ending data sharing with the Federal Reserve and the return of inflation data to ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.’
The former Federal Reserve governor, who joins Hassett as a leading contender for Fed chairman, has long been critical of the central bank.
“I think their record is really bad in predicting economic growth from policies like the ones the president has put in place. And their inflation forecasts have been pretty bad, too. That’s why they’ve been so late, and that’s why we’ve had this inflation that has done so much damage to the hard-working Americans among us. of Bartiromo Street.”
Rick Rieder
BlackRock Global Fixed Income CIO Rick Rieder discusses the state of the US economy heading into the new year on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, oversees $3.2 billion in client assets for the world’s largest asset manager. BlackRock has more than $10 trillion in assets under management. During an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman in December, Rieder declined to comment on the Fed leadership, instead referring to what he said last time on FBN.
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLK | Company BLACKROCK INC. | 1,060.17 | -4.82 |
-0.45% |
“When I first heard it, I thought it would be the greatest honor of my life. I mean, actually being considered for such a position and thinking about the responsibility, and frankly, what I thought was the ability, and I think why serving your country is a driving force, it is the ability to help people through monetary policy, through economic transfer, it is really powerful,” he said in August.
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Christopher Waller
Christopher Waller. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
WALLER: I AGAINST THE BILL FOR THE NEXT SITTING
Waller, along with colleague Michelle Bowman, were among the Fed’s first opponents in July to vote for a rate cut. The two reflected a growing rift between the Federal Reserve, which has been at odds over waiting too long to cut rates amid rising inflation and a sluggish labor market.
In December, Waller agreed to a 0.25 basis point cut by the Fed. This marked the third downgrade in a year. In the minutes of the last meeting, released on December 30, the number of expected price reductions in 2026 is still uncertain.
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FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Edward Lawrence contributed to this report, which was updated 12-30-25 to reflect the list of candidates and President Trump’s selection timeline.
