Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council and a top contender to lead the Federal Reserve, said on Sunday that President Donald Trump’s pleas to alter the central bank’s policies would carry “no weight” if he is selected for the role.
“I’m, right now, the top economic adviser for the president, and I talk about almost everything with him almost every day,” Hassett said in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “I think he has very strong and well-founded views about what we ought to do.”
“But in the end, the job of the Fed is to be independent and to work with the group of people that are on the board of governors, at the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] to drive a group consensus on where interest rates should be and to do so with the guidance of the Fed chair,” Hassett continued.