The race to become the most powerful leader in finance is starting in two weeks.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that he’ll begin interviewing 11 people vying to replace the Fed’s chairman, Jerome Powell, right after Labor Day on September 1.
Powell’s term doesn’t end until May 2026, but the White House is pressing fast as it disagrees with his policies.
The roster of hopeful candidates spans Fed insiders, economists, a White House advisor, and a couple of Wall Street heavyweights.
‘It’s an incredible group,’ Bessent said, noting he’ll begin meetings and eventually hand President Donald Trump a narrower slate.
The scheduled interviews come as White House officials openly searching for interest rate cuts.
President Trump has consistenly called out chair Powell on Truth Social, nicknaming the banking head ‘Too Late.’ He’s taken aim at the chair for the Fed’s office renovations that ran above the budget when workers found asbestos in the walls.
‘Jerome “Too Late” Powell must NOW lower the rate,’ the President said last Tuesday.
President Trump and Fed chairman Powell have been at odds over the country’s interest rate
‘I am, though, considering allowing a major lawsuit against Powell to proceed because of the horrible, and grossly incompetent, job he has done in managing the construction of the Fed Buildings.’
Appointed by Trump in 2017, Powell has drawn the President’s ire for keeping rates anchored above 4 percent.
The Fed establishes interest rates to balance two objectives: low inflation and a robost jobs market.
Typically, the Fed can lower rates to boost job growth or increase rates to cut back inflation.
Those goals are becoming trickier. July’s jobs report was bleak, while the month’s inflation rate continued to climb. Economists are mixed about the right way to proceed.
‘If both are moving in the wrong direction – like they are now – the Fed will be forced to address the bigger risk,’ Bret Kenwell, an investment analyst at eToro, told the Daily Mail.
‘With inflation on the rise, the committee is being put in a tough spot, but when push comes to shove, they will likely do what’s necessary to save the jobs market given how vital it is to the economy.’
Yesterday, Trump officials got another headline that could help push for a rate cut: homebuilders set a new low-mark for new housing sales since 2022.
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, said he wants to see a rate cut to help the US housing market
Investors have been closely watching the White House’s decisions on the next Fed chair – many want a rate cut to lower borrowing costs
The Housing Market Index, or HMI, which combines survey results from contractors and real estate metrics from new home sales, fell to 32 out of 100.
It last dropped to 31 in December 2022 when interest rates initially started to rise.
Bessent reiterated the administration’s case for easier money, arguing that cheaper borrowing could revive that sluggish housing market.
‘If we keep constraining home building, then what kind of inflation does that create one or two years out?’ Bessent said on CNBC.
‘So a big cut here could facilitate a boom or a pickup in home building, which will keep prices down one two years down the road.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .