Who Will Be The Next US Fed Chairman? Trump Considers 11 Candidates To Replace Powell In May 2026

US President Donald Trump is considering 11 candidates to replace the current Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell when his term expires in May 2026, including three that have not previously been publicly named, according to a report by CNBC. The new names includes Jefferies Chief Market Strategist David Zervos, former Fed Governor Larry Lindsey, and Rick Rieder, chief investment officer for global fixed income at BlackRock.

Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of the current Fed chairman Powell for not initiating interest rate cuts in the economy at a time when most of the global central banks had kicked off the monetary policy easing cycles.

The new candidates for the US Fed chairman now join a list of eight other candidates who are under consideration, including US Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, Fed Governor Chris Waller, and Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson.

According to CNBC, the candidates for Fed chair include Marc Summerlin, an economic advisor in the Bush Administration, Dallas US Fed President Lorie Logan and former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard.

Trump told CNBC that Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh were among those on his list. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will interview all of the candidates, review the list and pass on a final list to the president for his decision.

The US Federal Reserve's rate-setting panel decided to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.25%-4.5% for a fifth consecutive time in the July policy meeting. The dot-plot graph revealed two possible rate cuts in 2025. US Fed chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank will evaluate the economic data and take the necessary policy actions in the upcoming meetings. Additionally, the US inflation data in July also came in-line with Wall Street expectations, boosting the hopes of a rate cut in September.