Fed Reserve chair candidate Chris Waller rebukes Powell’s ‘fog’ warning

Federal Reserve Governor and presidential candidate Christopher Waller joined Kudlow to shut down Chairman Jerome Powell’s claims that the agency is passing through a “fog.”

Powell said on Wednesday that the lack of key economic data caused by the government shutdown gave the Fed an unclear view of the economy.

“This fog story has to stop,” Waller told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow. “The fog may be telling you to slow down. It’s not asking you to stop on the side of the road. You still have to move forward. Maybe you want to be careful, but that doesn’t mean stopping, and that’s the right thing to do with policies – keep driving down prices.”

Powell warns that shutdown is clouding Fed’s view of the economy: ‘Leadership in fog’

“What do you do if you’re driving in fog? You slow down,” Powell said during the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Waller is one of five on a list of candidates to replace Powell. Competitors include Michelle Bowman, Kevin Hassett, Rick Reeder and Kevin Warsh.

Waller said he is ready to take the position if chosen.

“If the president asks me, I will serve,” Waller said. “He asked me once before, and I said yes… I’ll say yes again.”

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The economist has been serving on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors since 2020 after being nominated by President Donald Trump.

Waller insisted that the Fed had enough data, arguing that a pause in decision-making was unnecessary.

Christopher Waller, Governor of the US Federal Reserve, during the Federal Reserve’s Payments Innovation Conference in Washington, D.C., October 21, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“We actually have a lot of data, just because the official government data hasn’t come out. We have a lot of data,” he said.

The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates for the second time this year amid a weak labor market

The governor also said that tariffs have a “minimal” impact on the economy, and that inflation is not a concern.

Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., June 25, 2024. (Ting Xin/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“We expect it to come down,” Waller said. He added, “All our expectations indicate that inflation will return to the target level. So, yes, it is high, and it was high, but it is fully returning.”

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Waller identified the job market as his biggest concern and made predictions about the AI ​​revolution, claiming that things might be different in a year or two. He said he was “very optimistic” about artificial intelligence.

“We’re not there yet. We haven’t seen that yet in productivity. But after 12 months, 24 months, I think you’ll start to see some big changes,” he said.