RIEDER’S MARKET SUPPORT, FED PLANS SEEN AS BOON FOR CHAIR JOB
(Bloomberg) -- Rick Rieder’s Wall Street bona fides and openness to making changes at the Federal Reserve have bolstered his candidacy for the central bank’s top job, according to people familiar with the White House deliberations.
The BlackRock executive is seen as looking the part of a central banker, and also grabbed President Donald Trump’s attention with his myriad of ideas for overhauling the Fed, according to people familiar with the matter.
Also in Rieder’s favor: he has never worked at the Fed — unlike the other three finalists for the job — and is viewed as not being beholden to the institution, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Rieder, one of four contenders to be Trump’s pick to lead the central bank, has elicited positive reaction from bond market participants as Trump administration officials have sought investor views on the shortlist of Fed chair candidates, the people said.
Other contenders include White House National Economic Director Kevin Hassett, Fed Governor Chris Waller and former Fed official Kevin Warsh.
Executives and investors attending the Davos World Economic Forum this week also privately expressed support for Rieder.
Trump told reporters Thursday he finished interviewing candidates and already has a person in mind without elaborating further. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has led the months-long Fed chair search, has said Trump could announce his decision as soon as next week.
White House Spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement that “until an announcement is made by President Trump, any reporting about the Federal Reserve Chairman nominations process is pointless speculation.” A representative for BlackRock declined to comment.
Earlier: BlackRock’s Rick Rieder Bid for Fed Chair Is Gaining Traction
One concern about Rieder that has bubbled up in Trump’s inner circle in recent days is about whether he will follow the president’s cues to quickly cut interest rates once installed at the central bank or adopt an independent streak, the people said.
Trump has said he wants a central bank leader who is keen to cut interest rates. Hassett, one of Trump’s most senior economic aides, had been seen as a frontrunner for the post, but the president last week said he may prefer to keep Hassett in his job at the White House messaging on economic policy.
Read MoreTrump’s selection for the next Fed chair could be one of his most consequential personnel choices of his second term, as his administration battles voters’ concerns about affordability, grocery prices and soaring housing prices. Trump has been publicly critical of current chair Jerome Powell’s reluctance to cut rates at the pace he wants.
Trump nominated Powell to lead the central bank in November 2017 but came to regret that pick when the Fed chief ignored his demands for steeper interest-rate cuts. Powell has repeatedly emphasized that Fed officials make their decisions based on what’s best for the economy.
Trump in his second term has ramped up his pressure on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, seeking to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations she denies. Litigation in that case is still pending, though Supreme Court justices suggested they are wary of Trump’s attempt to fire Cook over unproven charges.
The Justice Department has also opened a criminal investigation into Powell over renovations of the central bank’s headquarters, which the Fed chief dismissed as an attempt to punish him for not lowering rates faster.
--With assistance from Annmarie Hordern.
Most Read from Bloomberg
- White House Ballroom Architect Reveals New Trump-Requested Features
- NYC’s Mamdani Crushes Snow Day Hopes, But He Yearns for It Too
- Boston’s 18-Inch Snow Deluge to Make Travel Hard to ‘Impossible’
- Tokyo Becoming Colony for the Rich, Pritzker Winner Warns
- New York City’s Worst Highways Can Lead Somewhere Better
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
2026-01-23T19:26:36Z
