Biden names Fed vice chair as top economic advisor
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard replaces outgoing National Economic Council director Brian Deese
Washington – US President Joe Biden has chosen Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard to be his top economic advisor, ahead of a potential reelection campaign and as the administration battles stubbornly high inflation.
Brainard joins Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen among the country’s key economic policy officials, as the government works on enacting major laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act.
Brainard replaces outgoing National Economic Council director Brian Deese, who helped craft massive spending bills and steer a path out of the pandemic shutdown.
According to a White House statement, Brainard will be the second female director of the NEC.
“Lael, one of the country’s leading macroeconomists, brings an extraordinary depth of domestic and international economic expertise,” said Biden in a statement.
“She is a trusted veteran across our economic institutions, and understands how the economy affects everyday people,” he added.
On Tuesday, Biden also announced his intent to nominate Jared Bernstein as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.
A fellow member of the president’s Democratic Party, Brainard is known as a skillful negotiator and specialist in international trade.
She has been a central bank governor since being appointed to the Fed Board of Governors in 2014 by then-president Barack Obama, and is considered one of the Fed’s more dovish members.
Her appointment comes at a time as the Fed pushes on with a campaign to cool inflation, mulling when to pause its interest rate hikes.
“For the Fed, until her successor is confirmed, her departure makes the Fed a bit more hawkish,” said David Wessel, a senior fellow in economic studies at Brookings.
Biden has not formally announced his re-election bid but is expected to run again next year.
Before joining the Fed, Brainard worked in Obama’s Treasury Department as under-secretary for international affairs.
Brainard was previously viewed as a potential pick for Biden’s Treasury secretary, though she was passed over in favor of Yellen, a former Fed chair and the first woman to serve in that role.
If she fares well, Wessel said, Brainard “becomes a strong contender to be Treasury Secretary in a second Biden term.”