Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, on the short list to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell next year and scheduled to be interviewed for the job by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, said he would "absolutely" defend the U.S. central bank's independence if it were challenged.

Trump has demanded lower interest rates since beginning his second term in the White House in January, and last week told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that the next Fed chief should consult with him on monetary policy.

Waller, appearing at an event in New York, said the longstanding, regular meetings between the Fed chief and the sitting Treasury secretary were an adequate way for the administration to pass along information.

Trump, he noted, has never been shy about making his views known. The president "makes himself very clear on Truth Social" about what he wants out of monetary policy and "I don't think there's any confusion about it," Waller said in response to a question during the Yale School of Management CEO Summit in New York.

Waller noted that Fed leaders have appropriately coordinated with presidents in times of crisis, such as during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic that involved massive Fed and Treasury efforts to backstop the economy.

But in normal times "the Fed chair and the secretary of the Treasury have breakfast every two weeks ... That's a normal chain of communication where information can be passed from the White House to the chair about what the administration's needs are," Waller said.

"That's a typical channel of communication. It's well understood, and I don't think there's anything wrong with continuing with that channel," he added.

Asked whether he'd defend the central bank's independence from a president who questioned that status, Waller said the answer would be "absolutely."

POWELL SUCCESSION RACE

Waller is the third person in recent days to be interviewed by Trump as the process for choosing Powell's successor nears a likely end early next year, with U.S. Senate confirmation needed for any nominee and Powell's term ending in May.

Recent reports have touted White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett as the likely choice, with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh also earning a recent interview with the president.

Trump said he expected to settle on a choice "in the near future."

Amid reported pushback against Hassett for being too close to the president to be seen as adequately independent, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday called the notion "absurd."

Waller, a former director of research at the St. Louis Fed, became a U.S. central bank governor in 2020 after being selected for the job by Trump during his first term in the White House.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed and Powell for not cutting rates as aggressively as he would like.

The Fed is independent as a matter of law, and a wide range of experts, as well as policymakers, believe central banks make policy better when they are free from political considerations. For example, the aggressively easy monetary policy advocated by Trump carries large inflation risks.

The president's Fed chief selection process has raised questions about how independent any nominee would be. In a highly unusual move, Trump installed White House economic adviser Steven Miran as a Fed governor, allowing him to serve as a central bank policymaker while on leave from his other role.

Waller has been a steadfast supporter of cutting rates to help buoy a weakening job market.

And while some observers thought his early shift toward dovish monetary policy was part of a potential bid to succeed Powell, he has stressed that his view was driven by the data and subsequently supported by the economy's performance.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Waller said the Fed still has room to cut rates further because inflation risks are declining and job growth has weakened.

A poll shared at the Yale event showed that corporate leaders strongly favored Waller as Powell's successor, but only about a third of them thought Trump would pick him, similar to the share of those who thought Hassett or Warsh would be selected.