Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday called for a full-scale reassessment of the Federal Reserve, questioning whether the institution has delivered on its core responsibilities and suggesting its failures would not be tolerated in other federal agencies.
“What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful,” Bessent said during an appearance on CNBC. “Has the organization succeeded in its mission? If this were the FAA and we were having this many mistakes, we would go back and look at why has this happened.”
His remarks come as tensions escalate between the White House and the Fed. Conflicting reports surfaced last week about whether President Trump was preparing to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a move Trump later denied. Bessent has been linked to the matter as a potential replacement.
Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to aggressively lower interest rates—demands that have so far gone unmet. At the same time, the administration has raised concerns over the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two Washington buildings, criticizing the project’s ballooning costs. Officials reportedly plan to tour the facilities in the coming days.
Bessent also suggested the Fed should consider easing policy further, citing signs of moderating inflation. “They were fear mongering over tariffs, and thus far we have seen very little if any inflation,” he said. “We’ve had great inflation numbers. So, you know, I think this idea [is] of them not being able to break out of a certain mindset. All these PhDs over there, I don’t know what they do.”
