Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke visited the White House on Wednesday afternoon, according to reporters present.
What Bernanke was doing visiting the Trump team was not immediately known. His visit was not on a schedule provided by the White House. Neither the White House nor the Brookings Institution, the think tank at which Bernanke is employed, immediately responded to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Bernanke was appointed to run the Fed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and reappointed by President Barack Obama in 2012, leaving in 2014. The financial crisis and recession occurred on his watch, and he oversaw the bank bailouts and stimulus efforts meant to stem the fallout.
Although the purpose of Bernanke’s visit was not immediately known, it comes as the Trump administration needs to find nominees to staff the Fed.
Currently, two positions on the Fed’s Board of Governors are vacant, and another will open up in the spring when Governor Daniel Tarullo steps down. The Trump administration also is supposed to nominate a vice chairman for supervision, a priority appointment in the eyes of congressional Republicans.
Trump must also soon decide on whether to replace Janet Yellen as Fed chairwoman. Her term expires early in 2018, meaning that a selection would be necessary later this year to gain Senate confirmation before her term runs out.
The Trump administration has expressed its intentions to dismantle the new banking rules passed by Obama and mostly implemented under Bernanke, as well as Yellen.
