Kevin Hassett Announced as Trump’s Pick to Head National Economic Council

President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to appoint economist Kevin Hassett as director of the National Economic Council, replacing current director Lael Brainard, when Trump takes office on January 20, 2025.

As director, Hassett would work closely with the secretary of the treasury to implement Trump’s economic policy objectives, which have largely been centered around cutting taxes, increasing tariffs and expanding energy production.

Hassett previously served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in Trump’s first administration from 2017 to 2019 and served as a senior adviser to Trump during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He is currently a distinguished fellow in economics at the Hoover Institution, a public policy think tank. While serving in the prior Trump administration, Hassett defended Trump’s tax cuts and trade policies but also acknowledged that tariffs can weaken economic growth.

Prior to working for Trump at the White House, Hassett was an economist at the American Enterprise Institution and served as a senior economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Created in 1993 by executive order, the NEC has four key functions: to coordinate policymaking for domestic and international economic issues; to give economic policy advice to the president; to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the president’s economic goals; and to monitor implementation of the president’s economic policy agenda.

Hassett co-authored a 2021 white paper, along with Teresa Ghilarducci of The New School, arguing that the current defined contribution retirement system favors higher-earning workers by being based on “tax benefits through deductions, as opposed to credits or direct matches.” Hassett and Ghilarducci expressed support for the Retirement Savings for Americans Act of 2023—legislation that would give American workers access to portable, tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts, with federal matching contributions for certain low-and middle-income workers.

The bill has bipartisan support and was introduced by Senators John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, and Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, and Representatives Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, and Lloyd Smucker, R-Pennsylvania. It has not yet been passed by the House or Senate.

Ghilarducci says Trump “could not have chosen better in selecting [Hassett] as his chief adviser.”

“Kevin is not an ideologue; rather, Kevin is a highly talented economist who approaches strategy and policy puzzles with a commitment to finding practical, inclusive solutions,” she says. “During our collaboration on addressing the gapping retirement wealth inequality, I’ve come to appreciate Kevin’s deep concern for the economic security of working people—a security that depends heavily on Social Security and bold, forward-looking pension reforms.”

Ghilarducci and Hassett’s white paper was funded by the Economic Innovation Group, of which Hassett is a founding co-chair and current member of the economic advisory board.

“Kevin Hassett is a phenomenal choice to lead the National Economic Council,” said EIG President, CEO and Co-Founder John Lettieri in a statement. “The country will be fortunate to once again have the benefit of his deep experience and policy acumen in the White House. Throughout his career, Kevin has been a tireless advocate for policies that spur economic growth and uplift left-behind workers and communities.”

Trump also recently announced his plans to nominate Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon, as secretary of labor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to be secretary of the treasury. The cabinet positions, unlike the NEC position, need to be confirmed by the Senate after Trump re-takes office in 2025.