National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Thursday that the administration is moving forward with its planned nomination of Herman Cain to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, for now.
“Yes, we are at the moment. He’s in the vetting process,” said Kudlow in a public interview on Thursday when asked about Cain’s nomination. “We will see how that turns out. I don’t want to prejudge that.”
The former restaurant chain executive and presidential candidate does not appear to have enough support in the Senate to be confirmed if his nomination were considered today.
Asked about allegations of past sexual harassment levied against Cain during his 2012 presidential campaign, Kudlow responded, “This town is full of allegations. Sometimes they’re true, sometimes they’re not true, as we’ve all seen.”
[Related: Pelosi: Trump Fed picks Moore and Cain are ‘dangerous’]
Kudlow, the top economic adviser to President Trump, praised Fed chairman Jerome Powell, though he said he agrees with Trump’s criticism that the central bank raised benchmark interest rates too much last year.
“He has my confidence,” said Kudlow, adding that he thinks Powell and fellow Trump appointee, Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida, will work well together.
“I don’t think rates will rise, maybe never again in my lifetime,” Kudlow said, adding that, despite Trump’s unusually public criticism, the Fed and the Trump administration see major economic realities differently.
Though he reiterated a call for the Fed to cut interest rates, a move usually done to help stimulate the economy in a downturn, Kudlow said he’s confident there will not be a recession this year or the next.
“Unless there’s some massive exotic shock, I don’t see why the economy can’t continue to grow,” he said.
