Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., wants to require regional banks in the Federal Reserve System to interview minority and female candidates when they hire presidents.
The rule would be analogous to the NFL’s “Rooney Rule” requiring teams to interview minority candidates for open head coaching jobs.
Harris, a California Democrat speculated to be in the mix for the presidential contest in 2020, introduced legislation to make the rule mandatory.
“It’s long past time the Federal Reserve do more to guarantee that their heads of the table reflect those they serve,” she said.
Additionally, the legislation would change the title of the top Fed official from “chairman” to “chair.”
The Fed system includes 12 regional banks, whose presidents are responsible for overseeing banks and managing the payments system. The presidents also rotate in and out of voting positions on the Fed’s monetary policy committee.
Democrats have been pushing for greater diversity at the central bank. Harris noted that only three of 130 regional bank presidents have been nonwhite.
Democratic Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., also thought to be potential presidential hopefuls, co-sponsored the bill, as did Dianne FeinsteinD-Calif.
