Lael Brainard, vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, listens to a matter during an interview in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard is a top candidate to take a very powerful economic position within the White House.
The central bank official is taken into account considered one of the strongest contenders, amongst a bunch of others, to succeed Brian Deece as director of the National Economic Council, based on sources aware of the matter. The Washington Post first reported the story, citing three sources with knowledge of the method.
Brainard, 61, was considered a top candidate for Treasury secretary when President Joe Biden was first taking office in 2021, but former Fed Chair Janet Yellen ultimately was chosen for the post. Biden named Brainard vice chair on the Fed in 2022; she also was regarded as a possible successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whom Biden reappointed last yr.
Deece has not set a date for his departure, but is anticipated to go away soon.
Brainard is considered one of multiple candidates being considered and interviews for the position are continuing, based on a White House spokesman aware of the matter.
For her part, Brainard could garner support from progressives who’re in favor of strong bank regulation and easier monetary policy. She also has helped lead the trouble on the Fed to ask banks to submit plans to handle climate-related events, pushed for a central bank digital currency and was a part of a policy switch that amended the central bank’s approach to employment to make it each full and inclusive.
Together with all those efforts, Brainard has spearheaded updates to the Community Reinvestment Act, laws favored by Democrats that encourages bank lending to low-income Americans.
A Fed spokesman declined comment. Officials there are currently of their blackout period before the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 policy meeting.
The White House also didn’t comment.
Together with Brainard, other top contenders the Post identified include current Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo; Gene Sperling, an advisor to former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton; former Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell; deputy NEC Director Bharat Ramamurti; and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who reportedly just isn’t focused on the job.
If chosen, Brainard would take over with the U.S. economy seemingly on the point of recession, and because the Fed weighs when to halt aggressive rate of interest hikes aimed toward tackling runaway inflation.
The role would give her strong influence over quite a lot of administration priorities, including housing, antitrust issues and energy.
Brainard’s ascent then would create a emptiness on the Fed, which is anticipated to halt its spate of rate increases early this yr. The speed-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets next week and is sort of universally expected to enact a quarter-point increase, matching the smallest move because the current policy tightening began in March 2022.
In her most up-to-date speech, Brainard said inflation stays too high and the Fed is prone to keep rates elevated until there may be more progress in bringing down prices.
“Even with the recent moderation, inflation stays high, and policy will have to be sufficiently restrictive for a while to ensure inflation returns to 2% on a sustained basis,” she said.