Treasury Secretary Bessent Not Ruling Out Fed Job

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent didn't rule out becoming the next Federal Reserve chair when asked about a potential dual role on CNBC's "Money Movers" on Thursday.

When the wide-ranging conversation touched on President Donald Trump's feud with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, host Sara Eisen mentioned the speculation that Bessent was in the running to replace Powell.

"Your name gets floated out there," Eisen said. "You have some odds on Polymarket of being the next Fed chair. Can you be a Fed chair and a treasury secretary at the same time?"

In comments highlighted by Mediaite, Bessent replied that he was content with his position in the president's Cabinet.

"Well, I think it hasn't been done since 1930-something and I'm very happy in my job here," he said. "I think we have lots of good candidates for Fed chair. We will start working on that in the fall. We've been busy. The president's been doing peace deals, trade deals, tax deals — and we are landing the plane on all of those — so we're going to have more bandwidth after Labor Day."

Eisen then noted that Bessent did not exactly close the door on shouldering another role.

"That was not a no — I just want to point out — on the double job," she said. "Very interesting."

Trump said Tuesday that he has two or three choices in mind to replace Powell. The current Fed chair, whose term ends in May, was nominated to lead the U.S. central bank by the president during his first term.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Trump is considering former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, and Bessent as replacements. Former World Bank President David Malpass and Fed Gov. Christopher Waller are also candidates, according to the newspaper.

Trump has been critical of Powell since returning to the White House in January, slamming the Fed chair for his refusal to cut interest rates, which range from 4.25% to 4.50%.