President Biden’s choice is Jerome Powell for the next Fed Chair
US President Joe Biden has chosen Jerome Powell for serving another four-year term at the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors as its Chair.
In an official announcement on November 22, the White House President Biden said nominated Powell as his choice for leading the Federal Reserve after his current term ends in February 2022.
The executive branch has cited Powell’s “decisive action” in minimizing the economic impact brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the milestone creation of 5.6 million jobs with a 4.6 per cent unemployment rate.
In addition, Biden has chosen current Federal board member Lael Brainard as the Vice-Chair of the agency. Brainard’s 14-year long term as a member of the Federal Reserve is slated for expiry in 2026, while Powell’s terms ends in 2028.
Biden said that he is “confident” that Powell as Chair and Dr Brainard as Vice would focus on keeping inflation low and the prices stable as well as in delivering full employment that would make the US economy “stronger than ever before.”.
Both of them together, also share Biden’s “deep belief” on urgent action in addressing the economic risks posed by climate change and of staying ahead of emerging risks in the US financial system, Biden added.
A total of seven members are expected to be sitting on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, each of them nominated by the current US president, as is confirmed by the Senate. The Board is expected to serve 14-year terms.
Although Powell would serve only four years within his existing term once confirmed as Federal Chair, he would still be able to attend a confirmation hearing of the Senate Banking Committee prior to his nomination for voting in the Senate.
Randal Quarles also announced on November 8 that he would be leaving by 2022, hence giving President Biden the opportunity to fill three Federal seats.
However, Biden’s latest picks represent only a slight change in leadership within the Federal as Biden did not select current Vice-Chair Richard Clarida for continuing his duties from January 2022 when three empty seats would most likely be available.
The White House has also said Biden aimed to announce his picks for those particular positions as well as for the Federal’s Vice Chair for supervision in early December, focused on “improving the diversity in the Board’s composition.”
During his time as Federal chair, Powell has shown his vocality on the role of digital assets in US markets as the ecosystem is growing in size and popularity. He has said in September 2021 that the agency had been working “proactively” for issuing a CBDC, but it was unlikely to support a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies.
