Trump Says He Will Decide on Fed Governor Before End of the Week

(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said he would make his decision on a replacement for outgoing Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler this week as he looks to make his imprint on the central bank’s monetary policy.

“I’ll be making that decision before the end of the week,” Trump told reporters at a White House event on Tuesday. “We’ll either decide on one for permanence or the four-month period — the term. You know, there’s a term of about a number of months.”

The Fed announced on Friday that Kugler would resign from her seat on the board of governors before her term is up in January, giving Trump an earlier than expected opportunity to tap a candidate more closely aligned with his calls for the central bank to lower interest rates.

Kugler’s exit comes amid a pressure campaign by Trump on the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, to lower borrowing costs.

Whoever Trump chooses for the governor post would likely also be in the running to lead the US central bank when Powell’s term as chair expires in May, and could set the tone for what the Trump administration wants from the Fed in terms of rate-setting policy. Trump reiterated that he was considering four candidates for the post of Fed chair. Earlier Tuesday, he said that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said he did not want to be in consideration for the post.

Trump said the candidates he was considering included former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.

“We’re looking at the Fed chair, and that’s down to four people right now,” Trump said at Tuesday’s event. “Well, I can tell you because I’ve already said, there’s two Kevins and two other people.”

—With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.