Biden Nominates Three to Fed Board of Governors
Recently, President Biden announced nominations of three top officials to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors: former Treasury Department Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin for Fed chair of supervision, and Michigan State University professor Lisa Cook and Davidson College professor Philip Jefferson as board members.
“We are at a moment of historic economic progress alongside unique economic challenges as we work to drive our recovery forward,” Biden said in a statement announcing the nominations. “This is a moment that calls for sound, independent leadership from the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve.”
“Together with Chair Powell and Dr. Brainard, who I renominated last month, this group will bring much needed expertise, judgment, and leadership to the Federal Reserve while at the same time bringing a diversity of thought and perspective never seen before on the Board of Governors,” Biden continued. “They will continue the important work of steering us on a path to a strong, sustainable recovery, while making sure that price increases do not become entrenched over the long term.”
Raskin has been Deputy Treasury Secretary, where she worked to enhance financial infrastructure related to climate risk and cybersecurity as well as the defense of consumer safeguards in the financial marketplace. She also previously served as Federal Reserve Governor during the Obama administration, and helped to promote financial stability and conduct the country’s monetary policy.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee (HSFC), applauded Raskin’s nomination, stating that she would bring “a deep level of expertise on a range of economic and financial supervisory issues, including strengthening cybersecurity in the financial sector, ensuring consumers have equal access to affordable credit, and supporting the work of diverse and mission-driven community financial institutions.”
Lisa Cook previously served at the White House Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and her current research interests are economic growth, development, and innovation.
Philip Jefferson has served as a president of the National Economic Association, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors of the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He was also an economist at the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors.
If confirmed by the Senate, Cook would be the first Black woman to join the Fed board, and Jefferson would be the fourth Black man to serve on the Fed board since it was created in 1913. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chair of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, said the nominees will bring “important perspectives to the Federal Reserve Board about the economic issues women, Black and brown workers, and rural and industrial communities across the country face.”
