Treasury taps Bessent chief of staff for IMF post, sources say

Dan Katz, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's chief of staff and point person on China, is expected to fill the No. 2 post at the International Monetary Fund, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment, noting that no announcement has been made by the IMF.

The selection of Katz would place a Treasury insider at the global lender as the second Trump administration questions U.S. involvement in a number of multilateral organizations.

Bessent in April told the leaders of the IMF and World Bank that they must earn the Trump administration's trust by refocusing the institutions on their core missions and get "back to basics."

A Goldman Sachs alumnus, Katz has served in four rounds of in-person negotiations with the Chinese, including this week's talks on TikTok, the sources said.

He also was the lead negotiator in Trump's economic partnership with Ukraine, they said.

Katz, who was a senior Treasury official during Trump's first term, is a trusted confidante of Bessent, having consulted for his hedge fund before becoming chief of staff, they said.

Pierre Yared, vice chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, had also been under consideration.