Bessent: 11 Fed Chair Interviews Start Near Labor Day

Candidate interviews for the Federal Reserve chair position will start around Labor Day, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday.

While appearing on CNBC, Bessent said the race to replace current Chair Jerome Powell is between 11 candidates of various backgrounds. They include past and present Fed officials, economists, a White House adviser, and Wall Street experts.

"In terms of the interview process, we've announced 11 very strong candidates. I'm going to be meeting with them probably right before, right after Labor Day, and to start bringing down the list to present to President [Donald] Trump," Bessent said on "Squawk Box." "It's an incredible group.I'm looking forward to meeting all of them with a very open mind."

Trump has criticized Powell for months over Powell's reluctance to lower interest rates. Powell's term is set to end in May.

CNBC reported the list of candidates to replace Powell includes:

• Current Fed governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller
• Former governors Kevin Warsh and Larry Lindsey
• Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan
• White House economist Kevin Hassett and economist Marc Sumerlin
• Strategists Rick Rieder of BlackRock and David Zervos of Jefferies
• Former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard

During an interview on CNBC earlier this month, Trump said he had whittled down his list of potential Federal Reserve chair candidates to four.

He named Hassett and Warsh as two of the candidates.

"I think Kevin and Kevin, both Kevins, are very good," Trump said, adding that Bessent wanted to remain at the Treasury instead of moving to the Fed.

Bessent on Tuesday told CNBC that lowering the prime interest rate would help the U.S. housing market, which has seen weakened sales and new building while low inventory has pushed prices higher.

"If we keep constraining homebuilding, then what kind of inflation does that create one or two years out?" he said. "So a big cut here could facilitate a boom or a pickup in homebuilding, which will keep prices down one, two years down the road."

Forbes reported Saturday that the Fed likely will cut interest rates in September.

Reuters contributed to this story.