Some Trump aides reportedly are ready for Yellen to take her leave
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s candidacy for another term is encountering resistance from some Trump administration advisers who want a new leader at the U.S. central bank, according to two administration officials, even as the Treasury secretary indicated she may still be in the running.
While White House officials are aware that Fed chiefs in the past have been asked to stay regardless of party affiliation, some advisers are keen to install their own pick in the coveted seat, two officials said on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The selection process is in the early stages.
Publicly, Yellen hasn’t been ruled out.
“We haven’t made any decisions yet on the Fed chair, whether we’re going to have a new one or not going to have a new one,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week.
President Donald Trump has until the fall of this year to make a decision on a central bank chief and hasn’t given much thought yet to the qualities he’d like to see in potential contenders, according to another administration official, who like the others spoke about the matter on condition of anonymity.
The president hasn’t even discussed the situation at any length with his top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, this official said. Moreover, Trump likes Yellen and feels no sense of urgency to explore the matter, the official said.
But speculation that the Fed leader will stay on past her term ending in February is belied by the talk inside the White House that some of Trump’s aides doubt that he’d stick with Yellen, whom candidate Trump criticized last year for keeping interest rates low to help then-President Barack Obama.
Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, is working with Mnuchin on several Fed vacancies in the coming months. The two former executives of Goldman Sachs Group will be mindful of the financialmarket impact of their decision.
The job of Fed chair affects every American, businesses that borrow and the price of money everywhere. The bond market would punish a bad choice, boosting market interest rates and threatening the economic expansion. Given the weight of the position, previous presidents have opted for continuity and reappointed the sitting chair, a tradition that would argue in favor of Yellen.
For her part, Yellen was careful not to criticize the president at her June 14 press conference.