President Donald Trump will announce his intention to nominate Jerome “Jay” Powell as the next chair of the Federal Reserve at 3 p.m. today, as successor to Janet Yellen, whose term expires in February, several news outlets reported last night.
Powell, an attorney, joined the central bank’s board of governors in 2012 under President Barack Obama and was renominated in 2014. He is not expected to deviate heavily from Ms. Yellen’s gradual approach to raising interest rates.
The top choice of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Powell was not the first choice of conservatives on Capitol Hill and inside the administration, who argued in favor of other candidates including former Fed Gov. Kevin Warsh and Stanford economist John Taylor.
Taylor was reportedly seen by officials in the Treasury Department as potentially too likely to hike rates, which could diminish the stimulative impact of tax cuts. Powell received a handful of “no” votes from Republicans during his initial confirmation to the Fed, but he is expected to win confirmation easily.
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