The list of candidates for Trump's Fed chairman has been narrowed down to five by Bessent after interviews, sources say

After a series of rigorous interviews, some lasting as long as two hours, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has whittled down the list of candidates for Federal Reserve chairmanship from 11 to five, and that person could be nominated — though not necessarily as chairman — to the Fed in January.

According to senior Treasury officials, the remaining list of candidates includes two sitting Fed officials – Vice Chair for Oversight Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller – along with National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and BlackRock Fixed Income CIO Rick Rieder.

The Treasury Department plans to hold another round of interviews with all five candidates in the coming weeks and months. The interviews will be led by Bessent and include two senior Treasury Department officials and two senior White House officials.

With Bessent focused on the World Bank and IMF meetings in Washington next week and then traveling with President Donald Trump to Asia for an extended trip, officials said the interview process might not be completed until after Thanksgiving.

The secretary then plans to send a smaller list to Trump, who will make the final decision. However, it is likely that this person will be nominated first as Fed Governor and later as Fed Chairman.

The reason for this is that outgoing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, is in a governor's seat with only two years left in his term. Former Fed Governor Adriana Kugler's seat, now occupied by Stephen Miran, has a term that expires in January and would allow the new Fed chair to be nominated for a seat with a full 14-year governor's term.

But officials said the strategy had not yet been determined and that there were other options.

The president has already named Warsh, Hassett and Waller as finalists for the position, so only Rieder and Bowman would be new recommendations to the White House.

Compared to previous administrations, the Trump administration has had a more open process for the next Fed chairman, announcing candidates as the list grew and now shrinks.

At the same time, the government, led by the president himself, has been highly critical of the Fed's policy and has repeatedly urged a sharp cut in interest rates. The president had threatened to impeach Powell and even fired Fed Governor Lisa Cook over alleged mortgage fraud, charges she denies.

Cook's dismissal has been blocked by lower courts and the case will be heard by the Supreme Court in January. The efforts to oust Cook have raised concerns about the administration's commitment to Fed independence, raising the stakes for the appointment of the new chairman and making it a closely watched decision.

Treasury officials also provided, for the first time, some insight into Bessent's thinking about the criteria used to decide who should be chosen for the job.

Bessent would be looking for someone who is open to new ideas about how to run the Fed and monetary policy, and who has experience in economics, monetary policy, bank regulation and management.

The secretary recently wrote an essay sharply criticizing the Fed and calling for a review of the central bank's policy, structure and mission.

One of his criticisms was that the Fed had become too big and was suffering from mission creep. That suggests he would prefer a candidate willing to reduce the size of the Fed and scale back the use of certain tools, especially quantitative easing.

Officials said no candidate was in charge, but they confirmed recent reports that Rieder had impressed Bessent.

Rieder, a frequent guest on CNBC, has been a household name on Wall Street for years. His analysis of the fixed income market and the Fed is widely read. He also heads a large department at BlackRock. Although not decisive, officials suggested it could be a plus that Rieder, the only one of the five remaining candidates, never worked at the Fed.