Kevin Warsh nomination could haunt Treasury secretary Scott Bessent

Kevin Warsh nomination could haunt Treasury secretary Scott Bessent — Static01.nyt.com
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President Trump on Friday announced his selection of Kevin M. Warsh as his pick for Federal Reserve chair, a choice that grew out of a drawn-out vetting process led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Mr. Warsh, who served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, has in recent months repositioned himself as an interest-rate-cutting “dove,” but his true beliefs on inflation and interest rates remain unclear, the review says.

Neil Dutta of Renaissance Macro warned that “the president risks getting duped,” adding that Mr. Warsh’s dovishness “stems from convenience.” Mr. Bessent publicly avoided playing favorites, presenting Mr. Trump with four final candidates and saying on CNBC, “I don’t make recommendations.” The Treasury Department would not say if Mr.

Bessent had reservations about Mr. Warsh, and the secretary did not release a statement after the selection. The two men know each other from private investing; Mr. Warsh is a partner at Duquesne Family Office and Mr. Bessent was a protégé of Stanley Druckenmiller at Soros Fund Management in the 1990s.

The article notes the political risks of the choice, recalling that Mr. Trump remained angry at his first-term Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, for pushing Jerome H. Powell. Mr. Trump’s past comments on Truth Social about Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Powell were cited, and Mr.

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