Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller may just be the central bank’s next chair as friction between Donald Trump and Jerome Powell remains a constant. It is believed that the American economist has already met with the US president’s team about the Fed chief role, but he has yet to meet the commander-in-chief himself.
Prediction markets have also picked Waller as a new favourite who could potentially replace Powell. Ever since a Bloomberg report suggested that the Fed governor was emerging as a top candidate for the job, even CNBC indicated that the odds of him being picked for the role had crossed over 50% for the first time on prediction market Kalshi.
As a result, his chances of snagging the position have jumped past other front-runners like former Fed official Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council. They both stand at 20% and 35%, respectively.
Who is Christopher Waller?
The supposed “favourite for Fed chair among Trump team,” as Bloomberg calls him, is an economist who was appointed a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 2020 during Trump’s first presidential term.
He is currently making headlines as Trump continues to lash out on the sitting Fed Chair Jerome Powell over not pushing for lower interest rates. The POTUS has often threatened to “fire” him while naming certain people as his potential replacements.
Waller is a PhD economist, who after being appointed by Trump, spoke up about the Fed independence in his very first speech following his then-new Fed governor job.
Given the MAGA leader’s repeated criticism of Powell, remains one of the two officials on the central bank’s board who could back the case for lower rates. As per Reuters, his argument is based on the conversation that tariffs won’t enhance inflation and that a slowing labour market needs to be backed by an easier policy.
“My position does not mean I believe the FOMC should reduce the policy rate along a predetermined path. We can cut now and see how the data evolves,” he said, according to a statement shared on the Federal Reserve website on August 1, 2025.
“If the tariff effects do not lead to a major shock to inflation, the Committee can continue reducing the rate at a moderate pace. If we do get significant upside surprises to inflation and employment, we can pause. But I see no reason that we should hold the policy rate at its current level and risk a sudden decline in the labor market.”
Christopher Waller professional qualifications
According to the official Federal Reserve website, Christopher J Wallace will continue to fill his unexpired term until January 31, 2030. Before coming as a board member, he served as executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis since 2009.
His professional past also includes him taking on the role of a professor and the Gilbert F Schaefer Chair of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. Additionally, he was a research fellow with Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies.
Over two years (1992-1994), he sat in the seat of the director of graduate studies at Indiana University’s Department of Economics, also serving as associate professor and an assistant professor. Years later, from 1998 to 2003, he came in as a professor and the Carol Martin Gatton Chair of Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics at the University of Kentucky. Back then, he was also a research fellow at the Center for European Integration Studies at the University of Bonn.
His education background entails getting a BS in economics from Bemidji State University and a master’s degree and PhD from Washington State University. His LinkedIn profile lists his research interests as monetary theory, the political economy of central banking, bargaining theory, and international banking integration.