Kevin Hassett

Mr. Hassett, who currently works at the American Enterprise Institute, is a widely respected conservative economist who previously advised prominent Republicans like Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney. Hassett’s career has spanned think tanks, politics, government and academia. Since stints in the 1990s as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and a Columbia University professor, he’s held various positions with the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute in Washington starting in 1997, currently as director of research for domestic policy. Hassett was a Bloomberg News columnist from 2005 to 2011. Hassett has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in economics from Swarthmore College. It remains unclear, however, how much influence Mr. Hassett will actually have. Mr. Trump broke with recent tradition and removed the council’s chairman from a cabinet-level position. He has also expressed skepticism about economics in the past by casting doubt on official government employment statistics and expert opinions about the health of the economy.