"Federal Reserve Mouthpiece": Bessent continues to publicly criticize Powell, aiming to ensure his departure from the Federal Reserve in May

On January 21, Nick Timiraos, a reporter from The Wall Street Journal known as the “mouthpiece of the Federal Reserve,” stated that Bessent has recently been publicly criticizing current Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Yesterday, Bessent told CNBC that Powell should not attend the oral debate on Wednesday regarding Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook’s case, and he believes Powell will try to “favor” the Federal Reserve. Nick Timiraos hinted that before Bessent publicly criticized Powell, the Department of Justice had launched an investigation into the Federal Reserve, which made Bessent uneasy. Bessent is concerned that this investigation will complicate the efforts of the Trump administration to confirm Powell’s successor. Additionally, Bessent also needs to ensure that Powell resigns from the Board after his term as Federal Reserve Chair ends in May.