President Trump suggested Tuesday that he is eyeing his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, as a possible replacement for Janet Yellen as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Such an appointment would place the former Goldman Sachs president in a role overseeing much of Wall Street, a prospect guaranteed to invite a major fight in the confirmation process.
But in the same interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump indicated that he could renominate Yellen to stay on after her term runs out in February, and that there were a few others in the mix as well.
Reappointing Yellen would be a significant reversal for the president, who harshly criticized her on the campaign trail and suggested that she was manipulating monetary policy to aid former President Barack Obama and Democrats.
“I like her; I like her demeanor. I think she’s done a good job,” Trump said, according to the paper.
He added that he would like to see interest rates low and that Yellen historically has favored lower rates. Typically, presidents avoid weighing in on monetary policy, which is conducted by the Fed, an independent quasi-private system.
To replace Yellen, Trump likely would have to nominate a candidate relatively soon to have his nominee approved by the Senate in time to replace her as she leaves.
While interest rates are at historically low levels, the Fed is in the middle of a planned campaign to raise rates in the years ahead. The central bank’s monetary policy committee is meeting in Washington this week and is scheduled to announce its latest interest rate decision Wednesday. Investors expect the committee to hold off on raising its interest rate target for future months.
