Federal Reserve Nominees Inch Closer Towards Confirmation

As of April 8, 2022, four Federal Reserve nominations from the Biden Administration have yet to be confirmed. Jerome Powell, Lael Brainard, Lisa Cook, and Philip Jefferson, have all been waiting for quite some time to be confirmed after their nominations.

Jerome Powell is the current chair of the Federal Reserve and has been nominated to serve a second term as the Federal Reserve chairman. Mr. Powell has served on the Federal Reserve since 2012 when he was nominated to the Board of Governors by then-President Barack Obama. As chairman, Mr. Powell is currently dealing with rising inflation and hopes to bring it in check by raising interest rates six more times in 2022 alone.

Lael Brainard is a current Governor of the Federal Reserve and has been nominated to be the Fed’s vice-chair. Ms. Brainard has served on the Board of Governors since 2014 and vows to combat inflation with a more aggressive policy by raising interest rates and reducing the $9 trillion balance sheet that the Federal Reserve currently holds.

Lisa Cook is nominated to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Governors. Ms. Cook is a Professor of Economics and International Relations at Michigan State University. Much of Ms. Cook’s career has been studying the equitability and inequality of federal policy and what would help to improve economic growth through better opportunities for women and racial minorities.

Philip Jefferson is also nominated to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Governors. Mr. Jefferson is the Vice president for academic affairs, Dean of the faculty, and Professor of Economics at Davidson College. Mr. Jefferson was a researcher for the Federal Reserve from 1983 to 1985 and an economist from 1996 to 1997.

Mr. Powell and Mr. Jefferson have bipartisan support, while Ms. Brainard and Ms. Cook have faced opposition from Republicans but all are expected to ultimately be confirmed by the Senate.

Please reach out to the professionals at the Center for Financial, Legal, and Tax Planning, Inc., at (618) 997-3436 for more information.