Hassett: Willing to serve as Federal Reserve Chair if opportunity arises, advocates for larger interest rate cuts.

White House National Economic Council Director Hassett said that he has told Trump that he would accept the position if nominated to replace Powell as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Hassett added that he hopes to implement a larger rate cut at the December policy meeting. Hassett is one of the candidates specifically mentioned by Trump. He expressed surprise that Powell did not take more aggressive rate cuts in the context of a prolonged government shutdown and inflation data better than expected. Hassett said, "I think the president feels that rates can be lower, and I agree with that." He pointed out that he believes there is a reason to cut rates by 50 basis points, but expects the Fed to cut rates by only 25 basis points. Hassett believes that for every week the government remains shut down, the U.S. GDP will decrease by about $15 billion and noted that September's inflation data was lower than expected.