As President-elect Donald Trump has announced numerous nominations for Cabinet positions over the past two weeks since securing a second term in the White House, his pick to lead the Treasury Department is still pending as he is reportedly considering two new candidates for the key position.
According to a New York Times report, Trump has added former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh and Wall Street billionaire Marc Rowan to his list of candidates. His top two candidates were previously billionaire Howard Lutnick, who is a co-chair of Trump’s transition team, and investor Scott Bessent.
The report noted that Trump has been frustrated with Lutnick, particularly with the transition process, as he sees him as manipulating it to his advantage. The battle for the position between Lutnick and Bessent was also described as a knife fight by a person familiar with the process who was granted anonymity.
The potential two new candidates being considered for the position come just a day after tech billionaire Elon Musk, who Trump appointed to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, voiced his support for Lutnick in a post on X, while also suggesting Trump take public input on the decision.
“Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for [Donald Trump] to consider feedback. My view fwiw is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas [Howard Lutnick] will actually enact change. Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change one way or another,” he said.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, also waded into the selection process, backing Lutnick.
“Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans, a remedy against the dollar’s downgrade from the world’s reserve currency, and the offramp from a ruinous national debt. Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” he said.