President Donald Trump is expected to pick Tomas Philipson tp replace Kevin Hassett as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo white house Trump expected to tap Tomas Philipson as chief economist

President Donald Trump is expected to name Tomas Philipson, a former University of Chicago economist and specialist in health care policy, as his next chief economist in the coming days, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Philipson, who already serves as one of the three members of the Council of Economic Advisers, would replace Kevin Hassett as chairman of that council.


He will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Philipson would take over the CEA at a critical time for the economy: Trump is threatening to raise tariffs on Mexico and wrangling with China in ongoing negotiations, tensions that could threaten the near-record-long economic expansion.

Philipson, born in Sweden, has a PhD from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Trump announced last weekend that Hassett would be leaving, in a tweet calling him a “true friend.”

Hassett was a strong proponent of the president’s tax cuts, but has also had a career of extolling the virtues of free trade and immigration.

