President Donald Trump is planning to nominate Jerome Powell to replace Janet Yellen as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, the New York Times reported Monday.
From the Times:
Mr. Powell, a Fed governor since 2012, is a Republican with deep roots in the party’s establishment and in the financial industry. He has steadily supported the Fed’s current approach to monetary policy and financial regulation, creating an expectation that he would bring continuity to the role. One person familiar with the president’s thinking described Mr. Powell as the “safe” choice and the one who most closely fit Mr. Trump’s penchant for filling his government with characters from “central casting,” as he often puts it. Both people familiar with the president’s thinking cautioned that Mr. Trump was notoriously mercurial in his decision-making and that he liked creating drama around important personnel decisions. However, both people, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the president appeared set on Mr. Powell and that an announcement would come this week.
Speaking to Fox Business Network last week, Trump praised Yellen as “terrific” and “very impressive,” but said his desire to leave his own mark on the Fed hurt her chances.
“You like to make your own mark, which is maybe one of the things she’s got a little bit against her,” Trump said.
That makes Powell a safe choice as a Yellen-type Fed chairman—one for whom the president can take credit down the line.
