Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday the Trump administration is looking for someone with an "open mind" to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve as he interviews 11 candidates to replace Jerome Powell.

"Everyone asks me what am I looking for when I interview potential Federal Reserve chairs, and it's just someone with an open mind, who's not looking in the rearview mirror, who's looking forward," Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria."

Bessent expects to complete the first round of interviews by the first week in October. He noted that he has been surprised by the strength of some candidates, but declined to name them Wednesday. The Treasury secretary has said that he plans to present Trump with a small list of the strongest candidates.

The new comments are the latest indication that Bessent is widening his scope as the White House continues its search for someone to assume the post now held by Powell, whose term as chair runs out next May.

It is not yet clear how that will affect the eventual choice. Trump, for example, has already said he narrowed down his picks to three people: former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, current Fed Governor Chris Waller and current director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett.

Bessent, on the other hand, has thrown more names into the mix.

He went out of his way last week to praise former St. Louis Fed president Jim Bullard, noting that he had an approximately two-hour session with him as part of the fed chair search. He lauded his experience, calling Bullard an expert on monetary policy with a deep academic background, and someone who knows the institution of the Fed very well.

CNBC also reported last week that BlackRock (BLK) bond chief Rick Rieder has also interviewed with Bessent about the top Fed job.

Bessent — who is leading the search for the next Fed chair and has said he does not want the job himself — also continues to speak his mind about ways in which the Fed should be reformed.

He outlined a series of critiques in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, ranging from Fed “mission creep” and “institutional bloat” to slow action on interest rates that he argues puts the Fed behind the curve just as the labor market begins to slow.

It needs to “change course," “re-establish its credibility as an independent institution,” and conduct an “honest, independent, nonpartisan review,” Bessent wrote.

“Overuse of nonstandard policies, mission creep and institutional bloat threaten the central bank’s independence," he added. "The Fed must change course.”

Bessent is also not letting up on criticism of Powell, the target of repeated White House attacks for not cutting rates sooner. The Fed lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter point last week, its first cut of 2025.

“Rates are too restrictive, they need to come down,” Bessent told Bartiromo Wednesday morning. “I’m a bit surprised that the chair hasn’t signaled that we have a destination before the end of the year of at least 100 to 150 basis points.”

Trump's newest appointee to the Fed board, Stephen Miran, argued this week that rates should come down by roughly 2 additional percentage points. He was the lone dissenter in last week's cut, arguing for a bigger reduction.

Miran's colleagues have penciled in just two more cuts in 2025, setting up a divide in the months ahead about the path of policy.

Another Fed governor appointed by Trump, Michelle Bowman, said Tuesday she is worried that the Fed could get behind the curve if it doesn't get more aggressive about easing.

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