Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that a “formal process” to find a successor for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has already started — as the Trump administration ratchets up pressure for the top central banker to step aside before his term ends.

The White House accuses the Fed chair of potentially "violating the law" in his renovation of the central bank's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

President Trump and his allies have accused the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, of misleading Congress in what some legal scholars worry is a prelude to seeking his removal.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell is resisting President Donald Trump’s calls for lower interest rates, saying the Fed should not take debt and deficits into account.

The Fed’s prudent “wait-and-see” approach has the White House enraged. Trump has been very vocal that the politically independent central bank needs to slash the funds rate immediately by over 3%. This is to unleash what the president says is trillions of dollars in pent-up economic demand amidst somewhat stable inflation and job rates.

His comments follow President Donald Trump’s intensified criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, accusing him of undermining the US economy with high interest rates, while simultaneously unveiling sweeping new tariffs targeting Canada, the European Union, Mexico, and Brazil.

Kevin Hassett, President Donald Trump’s longest-serving economic adviser, is a leading contender to become the next Federal Reserve chairman, a position with significant influence over interest rates and the US economy.

President Donald Trump has spent months criticizing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, most recently arguing that the central bank should immediately cut interest rates to make it easier for the United States to finance ballooning deficits,