WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Both Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett are qualified to lead the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday, adding that any candidate President Donald Trump picks for the job needs to have "an open mind".
"They are both very, very qualified," Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Network.
Trump told the Wall Street Journal last week that he was leaning toward either Warsh, a former Fed governor, or Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council.
"We've got to have someone who has an open mind," Bessent said. In particular, he said, they should "break this idea that sometimes, often, the Fed has that growth creates inflation. Growth does not create inflation. The friction creates inflation when there is more demand in the economy than supply."
Trump also told the Journal that he wanted to at least be consulted on decisions about interest rates, a departure from the central bank's independent operations.
Current Fed chair Jerome Powell, whose term as chair ends in May, has come under blistering attack from Trump for not lowering interest rates faster.
Bessent rejected criticism that Hassett was too close to Trump to maintain the Fed's independence and should be disqualified.
"This idea that people don't have agency and can't make up their own minds, is wrong," Bessent told FBN's "Morning with Maria" program.
Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey Editing by Andrew Heavens and Peter Graff
