The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm economist Richard Clarida as the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, finalizing an appointment that will further remake the central bank with President Trump’s selections.
The upper chamber voted on a bipartisan basis, in a 69 to 26 vote, to install Clarida as the second highest ranking official at the Fed for a four-year term. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul joined with mostly liberal Democrats in voting no.
Clarida, who was previously a macroeconomist at Columbia University as well as an adviser to the investment giant PIMCO, is generally regarded as a mainstream selection for the important post. He brings the academic background lacked by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, a former banker and government official with a law degree.
With Clarida’s confirmation, the Fed’s board of governors will be only three members short of a full complement of seven. Only one official currently serving, Governor Lael Brainard, is an Obama appointee. Two more Trump nominees for board positions, Marvin Goodfriend and Michelle Bowman, await final Senate confirmation votes.
Although Trump’s Fed nominees so far have gained mainstream approval and bipartisan confirmation votes, they face an unusual challenge in the form of strident criticism from the man who appointed them.
Trump has criticized Powell in recent days for proceeding with hikes in the Fed’s target interest rate, suggesting that Fed’s actions are undercutting his negotiating stance in trade talks with China and other countries. Trump’s recent predecessors in the White House set the protocol that they would not second-guess the Fed or comment on monetary policy.
