National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump .in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 3, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Hassett’s critics say he has not been effective as head of the National Economic Council, playing little part in driving policies.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner to be President Donald Trump’s choice to chair the Federal Reserve, but some in the administration are questioning whether he’s up to the job.
Hassett’s detractors believe he has not been effective as head of the National Economic Council other than as a public messenger for the president’s agenda, playing little part in driving policies, according to three people familiar with the administration’s internal dynamics. That’s causing concern that he is ill-suited to take the helm of the central bank at a time when it is playing such a pivotal role in the economy, say the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
“You go down your list, and what do they do there exactly?” one of the people said of the NEC, arguing that Hassett has been only a limited factor in trade, deregulation and other key areas.
“He is ever present in media, appropriately defending the president, and that has value to the president,” the person added. “But being a great communicator at the top of the Fed is probably not what anyone who seeks real change at the Fed is seeking as a skill.”
A second person cited the April 2 rollout of Trump’s new trade regime, which included massive new tariffs on dozens of countries and roiled global markets. Asked to characterize Hassett’s contribution to that event, the person said: “Spectator.”
Both his critics and allies describe his input on initiatives like deregulation in sectors from finance to the environment more as providing advice on the potential effects of policies rather than coordinating the outcome, which is typically the function of an NEC director.
Trump has deliberated for months over his choice of a replacement for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, in what will be the president’s most important economic appointment. He has relentlessly attacked Powell all year for not cutting interest rates fast enough, raising concerns about the extent to which he intends to exert political influence over the independent central bank under its new leadership.
Hassett is running the NEC at a fragile time for the economy, where growth has been strong, but inflation is higher than the Fed wants and the job market is weakening. The Labor Department on Tuesday reported that the unemployment rate jumped to 4.6 percent in November, its highest level in four years. After the report, Hassett told CNBC that the Trump administration is driving private sector job growth but that “there’s plenty of room for the Fed to lower rates.”
Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he was leaning toward choosing either Hassett or former Fed board member Kevin Warsh as Powell’s successor.
Some of the president’s advisers praise Hassett for his extensive credentials as a researcher but say the Fed chair post requires more than just prowess in economics. Like an NEC director, who is tasked with steering economic policy across the government, a Fed chief’s job is to forge consensus on policy among competing voices, requiring a strong leader.
Past NEC directors have often been powerful forces in shaping the government’s strategy on everything from health care and energy to trade, serving as a hub for interagency coordination.
Hassett has had a less visible part in leading policy initiatives than other top Trump economic officials, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House adviser Peter Navarro.
Hassett did not provide a comment for this article. Administration officials pushed back on the notion that he has fallen short as NEC director.
One White House official, granted anonymity to speak freely, told POLITICO that this “isn’t a traditional White House” and that the president himself calls a lot of the granular shots on trade.
Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner, who played a key role in the creation of so-called Trump accounts that will serve as investment vehicles for children, said Hassett was critically important in making the case for the policy through his research.
Gerstner described Hassett’s contributions as “thoughtful and mature” rather than credit-seeking.
“I don’t know that there’s much on the economy that Kevin is not called upon as the lead adviser, not only by the president but by his peers in the Cabinet,” Gerstner said, adding that Hassett is regularly present at Oval Office announcements that impact the economy.
“But he’s also not the type of guy who is super hard-charging, who needs to be standing next to the president all the time,” he added.
Multiple Cabinet secretaries provided statements to POLITICO pointing to Hassett’s impact. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said the NEC director “was incredibly influential in shaping” the GOP tax package that passed in the summer. Hassett, whose expertise is in corporate tax policy, participated in negotiations with Congress alongside Bessent.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins praised “his policy acumen and ability to coordinate across the cabinet and drive core policy priorities of focus at USDA like bringing down egg prices, national security threats impacting the beef herd, and our farmer first economic policies.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Hassett was “a crucial partner in my Department’s latest initiative to reset fuel economy standards, eliminate [Biden-era policies promoting electric vehicles], and make cars more affordable again.”
But for Hassett’s critics, his leadership style matters because they say the country would be better served with someone atop the Fed with the skills to guide a sprawling network of staff, as well as a committee of policymakers, toward a fresh approach to setting interest rates.
It’s unclear the extent to which Trump himself is seeking change at the central bank beyond rate cuts, though that has been a common theme among his top officials, including Hassett.
The second person familiar with administration dynamics said Warsh would likely be better suited to overhauling the institution, while Fed board member Christopher Waller, another person who has been on the shortlist, would probably have an easier time convincing other central bank officials to lower rates.
At an event last month, Hassett pointed to his prior work experience as a staff economist at the Fed as “the reason why I could be ready to get to work right away.” He said he’d seen “what’s good and bad about the way the Fed people think. And there’s a lot of bad.”
He has cited shortcomings in the central bank’s economic forecasting as an area ripe for reform.
Tomas Philipson, who worked with Hassett at the Council of Economic Advisers in Trump’s first term and has known him for decades, said Hassett would push hard for more transparency at the Fed, which Philipson said is lacking at the central bank.
“He has the dual skill, that I don’t think any of the other remaining candidates have, of both having a foot in the economic research community … and at the same time he can message well,” he said.
He said his friend would make up his own mind if chosen to head the central bank.
“Whoever gets put into the position of Fed chair, they are never going to get appointed again by Trump, so I think the fact that they’re going to bow so much is exaggerated,” Philipson said.
The second person said Hassett has been a loyal advocate for Trump’s agenda but that there are people around the president who have their doubts that the PhD economist is a true believer in the sweeping tariffs that have defined the president’s second term, which could have implications for how he assesses their economic effects as Fed chair.
“At his core, he’s an [American Enterprise Institute] guy,” said the person, referring to Hassett’s longtime association with the more traditionally conservative, free-market think tank.
Philipson said the president’s approach to tariffs, such as using them as leverage against trading partners, has likely shifted Hassett’s views to be more aligned with Trump’s.
And a senior administration official said Hassett “has quietly provided significant intellectual firepower towards advancing the president’s economic agenda.”
“His academic approach to MAGAnomics has provided strong foundations for the president’s historic tax relief for working families, as well as the implementation of the president’s trade and tariff agenda,” said the official, granted anonymity because the person was not authorized to give a statement.
