Recently, Hassett’s latest remarks signal that he’s really starting to make his move.

He directly called on the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points at next week’s meeting. The timing is clever—it’s right during the Fed officials’ blackout period, when the official chair can’t respond, so he’s using his unique position to speak directly to the market. You can tell from Wall Street’s reaction: traders are already pricing in his words, basically treating his future role as a given.

The White House’s attitude seems a bit wavering these past couple of days, but in reality, they’re just playing the old game of expectation management. The whole process is tightly choreographed: first the warm-up, then the announcement, then shadow steering, and finally, the official takeover.

Right now, this shadow steering phase is the most critical. Powell is caught in a dilemma: if he cuts rates next week, it’s essentially an endorsement of Hassett’s views and an early sign-off on the new order; if he doesn’t, then if the economy runs into any trouble later, he’ll definitely be made a scapegoat.

After this entire maneuver, the market is already slowly adapting to the new rules of the game—it’s no longer just about the data, but also about reading the political winds. Once the posture is set, resistance gradually fades, and eventually, whoever they want to put in charge will take over smoothly. For risk assets like BTC, a rate-cut expectation might be a short-term positive, but policy uncertainty remains the bigger variable.