Treasury's Bessent says he's looking for someone with an open mind for Fed chair

By Andrea Shalal and Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said he would interview a lot of candidates next week to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, with an eye to completing the first round of interviews by the first week of October.

Bessent told Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria" that he was surprised by the strength of some candidates, but declined to name them.

He said he was looking for someone with an open mind to lead the U.S. central bank, doubling down on criticism of Powell for not lowering interest rates sooner.

Bessent noted that Stephen Miran, a recent addition to the Fed board chosen by U.S. President Donald Trump, had pressed for a 50-basis-point cut in rates, larger than the 25-basis-point cut agreed.

He said he was surprised that the Fed had not sketched out a target for lowering rates by the end of the year by 100 or 150 basis points, given recent downward revisions in jobs data.

Powell said on Tuesday the central bank needed to continue balancing the competing risks of high inflation and a weakening job market in coming interest rate decisions as his colleagues staked out arguments on both sides of the policy divide.

The central bank last week cut its benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point. Powell said the Fed was not on "a preset course" for further rate cuts.

"These meetings are supposed to be a discussion. You're supposed to go into them with an open mind," Bessent said. "Not unlike the U.N., we've seen a lot of mistakes, a lot of rigidities, and it's good to get some new blood in that."

He said he planned a second round of interviews before presenting Trump with a list of three or four very strong candidates.

"Everyone asks me what am I looking for when I interview potential Federal Reserve chairs, and it's just someone with an open mind, who's not looking in the rearview mirror, who's looking forward," Bessent said.

Recent revisions in employment data were concerning, Bessent said, adding, "With these revisions, we know that something was wrong beneath the hood."

That said, Bessent said he was less concerned about the economy tipping into a recession than the distributional aspects that left poorer Americans getting hit hardest.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Andrea Ricci)