Trump Team Favors Rate-Cut Advocate Chris Waller for Fed Chair

Fed Governor Chris Waller has reportedly emerged as the favorite to replace Jerome Powell as the next Fed Chair. The Trump Team allegedly favors him due to his willingness to work on incoming forecasts rather than the wait-and-see approach that Powell has adopted in recent times.

Chris Waller Emerges As Favorite To Replace Jerome Powell

According to a Bloomberg report, the Fed Governor is emerging as a top candidate to become the next Fed Chair among Donald Trump’s advisers in their search for Powell’s replacement. The report stated that Trump’s team is impressed with his willingness to work based on policy forecasts rather than current data.

The team is also impressed with Chris Waller’s deep knowledge of the Fed system as a whole. Although the Fed Governor has met with the team, he is yet to meet with the president himself, a development which could still sway the tides.

Meanwhile, Kevin Warsh, a former Fed Governor, is also still in contention for the job, according to the Bloomberg report. It is worth noting that Powell’s tenure as Fed Chair doesn’t end until May 2026, although the president is free to announce his replacement now.

As CoinGape reported, Trump recently said during an interview that he may announce the next Fed Chair “fairly soon.” On the same day, he confirmed that “Two Kevins” were in contention for the job. Although he didn’t mention Chris Waller, he also stated that he had two other candidates in mind.

Polymarket data shows that there is now a 33.6% chance that Trump will announce Chris Waller as the next Fed Chair in 2025. There is a 28% chance that the president won’t make an announcement this year, while there is a 19.2% and 10.5% chance for Kevin Hassett and Kevin Warsh, respectively.

The Fed Governor’s View On Monetary Policy

Chris Waller has been in support of a Fed rate cut for a while now, a development that could help boost crypto prices as the U.S. Central Bank injects more liquidity into the economy. Notably, the Fed Governor was one of the only two dissents (alongside Michelle Bowman) against holding rates steady at the July FOMC meeting.

Meanwhile, the Fed Governor has indeed been favoring adjusting monetary policies based on forecasts rather than current data. He had also warned about a potential crash in the labor market as far back as June. This already looks to be the case, considering the July nonfarm payroll data, which came in lower than expectations.

Back then, Chris Waller warned that they had to move swiftly to avoid a potential slowdown in the labor market. This was contrary to the views of Powell, and other FOMC members, who had before now declared that the labor market was strong and that they were in a good position to wait before lowering rates.

However, that view has changed among some of these FOMC members. Fed President Neel Kashkari recently indicated that they could no longer wait to cut rates, with the U.S. economy slowing. He added that two rate cuts this year seem appropriate.

Fed President Mary Daly had also remarked that the time to cut rates is near. CME FedWatch data shows that there is a 93.2% chance that the Fed will move to cut rates at the September FOMC meeting. A rate cut is a positive for the crypto market, as it could serve as the catalyst for the next leg up.