Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh is not seeking advice from the White House about interest rates, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Monday.
"We're very close friends. We've known each other for 30 years," Hassett said Monday during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"We definitely talk. But he's not asking the White House for advice what to do with interest rates."
Hassett's remarks come amid growing scrutiny of the relationship between the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve following Warsh's appointment as chairman last month.
The Federal Open Market Committee last week unanimously voted to hold its benchmark interest rate steady at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, marking the first policy decision of Warsh's tenure.
According to The Hill, the Fed cited inflation remaining above its long-term 2% target, with consumer prices rising 4.2% year over year in May amid energy market disruptions tied to the conflict with Iran.
While President Donald Trump previously urged lower interest rates, he recently emphasized that he wants Warsh to make his own decisions.
"Kevin is fantastic, and I want him to do whatever he wants," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" earlier this month. "I don't want to have a big influence on him."
Hassett praised Warsh's early leadership, arguing that the new chairman is already modernizing the central bank and reevaluating the economic models that contributed to inflation forecasting errors in recent years.
"You can see that he's organizing the Fed to make sure that there are new procedures, new ways of thinking about things, inspection of old models and so on, so that we never get back to a situation where the Fed's not moving and we got 9% inflation," Hassett said.
During the CNBC interview, Hassett also reflected on the legacy of former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who died Monday at age 100.
Hassett credited Greenspan with recognizing the productivity boom created by computers and the internet long before many economists accepted it.
"He saw the computer revolution happening before anyone else did," Hassett said, arguing that Greenspan's willingness to let the economy grow during the 1990s helped create enormous prosperity.
Looking ahead, Hassett suggested artificial intelligence could produce an economic transformation even larger than the internet revolution.
"The AI companies are printing money," he said, noting that both AI developers and businesses deploying the technology are already generating substantial profits.
Hassett also defended the administration's fiscal agenda, pointing to reductions in the federal workforce and strong capital investment data as evidence that Trump's economic policies are encouraging growth while helping address long-term debt concerns.
For now, he stressed that decisions on monetary policy remain with the Federal Reserve.
Warsh "made a huge amount of progress" in his first meeting as chairman, Hassett said, adding that he's optimistic the Fed is moving in the right direction while maintaining its focus on price stability.