White House officials have reached out to a key Democratic ally in the Senate to discuss filling the vacant role of Fed vice chair, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee is under consideration for the post.
Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown says he spoke Wednesday with White House officials about the vacancy created by President Joe Biden’s decision to name Vice Chair Lael Brainard to be his top economic adviser.
The Ohio Democrat would not disclose if any names were circulated, but said he wants a nominee who can focus on the Fed’s dual mandate of employment and wages. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has run afoul of some progressives, “favors a little more one part of the mandate than both,” Brown told Bloomberg News.
