Battle for Next Fed Chair Heats Up! Candidate List Reportedly Expands to Around 10, Including
Waller’s Former Boss

The race for the next Federal Reserve chair is intensifying after U.S. President Donald Trump nominated an interim governor to fill the vacancy left by Adriana Kugler’s early departure.

Market sources indicate that U.S. Treasury Secretary Besant is leading the search for a successor to current Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The candidate list has reportedly expanded to include former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Mark Sumerlin, who served as an economic advisor to former President George W. Bush.

Bullard stepped down as St. Louis Fed president last year and is now dean of Purdue University’s business school. During his tenure at the St. Louis Fed, he was the supervisor of Christopher Waller—another top contender for the Fed chair role. Waller previously served as executive vice president and head of research at the St. Louis Fed before being tapped by Trump to join the Federal Reserve Board.

On Thursday, Trump nominated his senior economic advisor Stephen Milan to fill Kugler’s soon-to-expire governor seat, which will be vacant in January. He stated that he would continue searching for additional Fed governor candidates.

Analysts say Trump’s move serves a dual purpose: it installs a loyalist at the Fed in the short term while buying him time to strategize the critical appointment of the next Fed chair.

Over the past few months, Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to cut interest rates sooner and called for his resignation. Critics argue that the president should allow Powell to serve out his term uninterrupted. Powell’s term as chair ends in May next year.

Since the Fed chair must be a sitting governor, and Powell has not clarified whether he will step down from the board after his chair term expires, markets initially speculated that Trump might play it safe by appointing his preferred chair candidate to Kugler’s seat and later promoting them when Powell’s term ends.

If Powell chooses to remain on the board after his chair term, the White House’s nomination options would be limited to current board members—putting Trump in a difficult position.

For now, however, Trump has gained breathing room to carefully select his ideal Fed chair candidate, with time to make a final decision by January next year.