Tillis,
Warren
and
Rep. Maxine
Waters (D-Calif.)
also
called
on
the

Senate
to
halt
action
on
Trump
nominees
to
the
central
bank
during
the
investigation.
Tillis
said
he
would
oppose
any
picks
until
the
investigation
was
resolved.

Powell’s
term
as
chair
expires
in
May,
but
he
is
not
required
to
leave.
His
term
on
the
Fed
board
of
governors
expires
in
2028,
so
he
could
remain
as
a
policymaker
until
then.

Several
potential
replacements
have
been
publicly
identified
to
serve
as
the next
chair,
but
it’s
expected
that
the
nominee
will
first
be
appointed
as
a
Fed
governor
before
being
nominated
as
chair.

The
nominee
is
set
to
begin
a
14-year
term
as
governor
on
Feb.
1,
succeeding

Stephen
Miran,
who
has
served
since

Adriana
Kugler’s
resignation
in
August
2025.
Kugler’s
term
was
due
to
end
in
January
2026.

CNBC
previously
reported
that
the
five
Fed
chair
candidates
are Michelle
“Miki”
Bowman,
the
Fed’s
vice
chair
for
supervision;
Fed
Governor Christopher
Waller;
Kevin
Hassett,
director
of
the White
House National
Economic
Council;
former
Fed
Governor Kevin
Warsh;
and BlackRock executive
Rick
Rieder.

Last
week,
Treasury
Secretary

Scott
Bessent,
who
is
leading
the
search
process
and
has
removed
himself
from
consideration
for
the
role,

said
during
an
appearance
on
Fox
Business
that
Trump
has
one
more
interview
to
do,
which
is
with
Rieder.

Bessent,
who
has
been
conducting
interviews
since
the
summer
of
2025,
told
CNBC’s
Sara
Eisen
in
October
that
he
would
give
Trump
“three
or
four
candidates
for
him
to
interview”
shortly
after
Thanksgiving.

Sources
close
to
the
president
told
Bloomberg
in
November
that

Hassett
is
the
leading
candidate
to
be
the
next
chair.
In
December,
Trump
told
Reuters
that
he
was
“leaning
toward”
both
Hassett
and
Warsh
for
the
role.
Earlier
this
week,
he

echoed
that
sentiment,
telling
Reuters
that
the
“two
Kevins
are
very
good.
…
You
have
some
other
good
people
too,
but
I’ll
be
announcing
something
over
the
next
couple
of
weeks.”

On
Friday,
however,
The
Wall
Street
Journal

reported
that
Trump
seemed
to
dismiss
Hassett’s
chances
while
praising
a
recent
TV
appearance
by
him.
“I
actually
want
to
keep
you
where
you
are,”
Trump
said.

Hassett
came
under
fire
earlier
this
week
after
he
defended
the
DOJ’s
investigation
of
Powell
as
routine
oversight
during
a
conversation
with
reporters.
The
Journal
reported
that
economists
openly
criticized
Hassett’s
remarks
as
“inappropriate”
for
a
potential
central
bank
leader.