Bessent criticizes the Federal Reserve's conservatism and will determine a new chairman before Christmas to promote reforms

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent stated in an interview on Thursday that he supports the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, but also pointed out that the Fed's skepticism about further rate cuts this year reveals a pressing need for comprehensive reform.

Bessent revealed in the interview that he will initiate a second round of interviews in early December to select a successor to current Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, so that Trump can confirm the new chairman before Christmas. He stated that this recruitment aims to find a new leader who can fundamentally reform the Fed's system and mechanisms.

"The Fed's decision to cut rates by 25 basis points yesterday is commendable, but the wording of the accompanying statement exposes its stagnant mindset. This year, the agency's inflation forecasts have consistently been severely off, and its analytical models have become virtually useless," Bessent said bluntly.

Bessent expressed his inability to understand why the Fed signaled that "there may not be another rate cut at the December meeting," and stated that the Fed's predictions for GDP and inflation have "always been erroneous." He emphasized, "The leader we need must be able to thoroughly reform the entire institution from the process and internal operations level."

Powell stated on Wednesday that due to policy disagreements within the Fed and the lack of federal government data, the likelihood of another rate cut this year is low. The anticipated 25 basis point cut was originally intended to guard against further weakness in the labor market, but the new policy statement repeatedly mentioned the difficulties caused by the government shutdown leading to a lack of official data. Powell noted that if employment and inflation reports continue to be unavailable, decision-makers may adopt a more cautious stance.

Since Trump began his second term, he has been critical of Powell's performance at the Fed. On Tuesday, Trump directly criticized Powell as "incompetent" during a meeting with business leaders in Tokyo.

Bessent had previously revealed on Monday that Chairman Powell's term will end in May next year, and there are currently five candidates on the final list for his successor: White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, current Fed governor Christopher Waller, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, and BlackRock executive Rick Rieder