[Hassett: Willing to serve as Federal Reserve Chairman if given the opportunity, advocates for larger rate cuts] According to Jintou News, Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council, stated that he has informed President Trump that he would accept the position if nominated to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chairman. Hassett added that he hopes to implement larger rate cuts at the December policy meeting. Hassett is one of the candidates named by Trump. He expressed surprise that Powell did not take more aggressive rate-cutting measures in the context of the prolonged government shutdown and better-than-expected inflation data. Hassett said, 'I think the President believes interest rates could be lower, and I agree with him on that.' He pointed out that he sees justification for a 50-basis-point rate cut but expects the Federal Reserve to only cut rates by 25 basis points. Hassett believes that each week of the government shutdown reduces U.S. GDP by approximately $15 billion and noted that September's inflation data was lower than expected.