U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday he had a good session with James Bullard, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, as part of his search for a new Fed chairman.

"Mr. Bullard and I had a very good approximately two-hour session. He has incredible experience from the St Louis Fed. He is an expert on monetary policy, deep academic background, and knows the institution of the Fed very well," Bessent said in an interview with CNBC.

Bullard said Monday he’s very interested in the job under the right set of conditions.

“I talked to the Treasury secretary last Wednesday and his team” about the top Fed position as well as other issues, Bullard said in an interview with Reuters. Bullard, who is now Dean of the Mitch Daniels School of Business at Purdue University, led the St. Louis Fed from 2008 to 2023.

The Trump administration is currently interviewing candidates to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends next May.

“I'd be willing to take the job … if we're set up for success,” Bullard said. “Success means that … we want to defend the reserve currency status of the dollar, want to keep inflation low and stable, and we want to protect the independence of the institution,” he said, adding “if we're going to go in that direction, then I think, you know, I'd be very interested in the job.”

Bullard’s conversation with the Trump administration comes as officials there have said they’ve been casting a wide net in searching for a replacement for Powell, who is in the closing months of his second term as leader of the central bank, although he has the ability to stay on as a governor until 2028.

President Donald Trump and Bessent have been steady critics of the Fed under Powell and have been pressuring the central bank to cut interest rates aggressively.

• Bullard Met With Bessent About Fed Chair Position