The FOMC is already expected to cut interest rates for the first time since December on weakening job growth
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump’s economic adviser Stephen Miran is on his way to joining the Federal Reserve board after the Senate confirmed him to the post in a vote on Monday (Sep 15) evening.
The Senate voted largely along party lines to approve Miran’s nomination, setting him up to walk into the Fed’s Washington offices on Tuesday morning in time for a crucial Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The vote was 48-47.
The FOMC is already expected to cut interest rates for the first time since December on weakening job growth.
Republicans fast-tracked approval of Miran’s nomination with Trump pressuring the central bank to cut interest rates.
Investors and economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect Fed officials to lower rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday. Undeterred, Trump predicted a “big cut” from the central bank.
“I think you have a big cut,” Trump told reporters on Sunday on his way back to Washington. “It’s perfect for cutting.”
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Miran, who has chaired the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told senators he would take an unpaid leave of absence to join the Fed, with no clarity yet on how long he might remain. Trump could nominate him for a full 14-year term to begin in February, or he could choose someone else. Miran could also stay on indefinitely if Trump chooses no one to fill the new term.
Surprise pick
The Senate’s action caps an unusually fast process, with a frustrated Trump eager to quickly replace Adriana Kugler after her sudden departure this summer. It moved even faster than Miran realised.
On Aug 7, the day Trump nominated Miran for the short-term post, White House officials were struggling to find him, according to sources familiar with the matter. It turned out he was in a secure facility where cell phones are not allowed. Once staff found him, he did not know why he was being summoned to the Oval Office.
SEE ALSO
The administration had decided they wanted to nominate someone who had already been through the Senate’s confirmation process, and Miran’s background as an economist made him a good candidate. He was formally interviewed by Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles before being offered the role, the sources said. Trump announced the nomination that afternoon, and the administration and Senate Republicans then worked together to get him confirmed in time for the September rate-setting meeting.
Miran had to sit through his second gruelling hearing this year, facing Democrats who ripped his temporary leave of absence from the White House as ridiculous and a threat to the independence of the central bank, especially after Trump moved to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and bragged to reporters he would soon have “a majority” on the Fed board.
“Every claim he makes and every vote he takes will be tainted with the suspicion that he isn’t an honest broker, but instead is Donald Trump’s puppet,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said at his hearing.
However, in one key exchange during his hearing with Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, Miran said: “What I can tell you is that if I am confirmed to the Federal Reserve, I will act independently based on my own independent analysis of the economy and economic policy.” BLOOMBERG
