Yellen finds an unlikely advocate at White House: The president
Janet Yellen’s only advocate in the White House may be the one person who matters most: President Donald Trump.
The incumbent Federal Reserve chair was impressive in an Oval Office interview with Trump on Thursday, several people familiar with the matter said. She made clear to the president that she wants to keep her job, set no preconditions for appointment to a second term, and offered suggestions for the vice chairman position that were welcomed by the Trump team.
Yellen, the first woman to lead the U.S. central bank, also made the case that the economy is doing well and that Fed policies have been supportive of growth. Trump, who’d be bucking conservatives in his own party if he opts to reappoint Yellen, has said he’ll decide by Nov. 3 whom to nominate as Fed chair when her term ends in February. The president, in a Tuesday lunch meeting with Senate Republicans, asked for a show of hands in support of Yellen and other contenders for the job — Stanford University economist John Taylor and Fed Governor Jerome Powell. He didn’t announce a winner and most of the senators didn’t raise their hands. But of those who did, “I think Taylor won,” said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
Confidence in the central bank is critical for continued economic growth and job creation, something Trump frequently claims as an accomplishment. The president also often touts the stock market’s boom since his election, a run that could be threatened should financial markets perceive him to be seeking a change in direction at the Fed.
Under Yellen, unemployment was at 4.2 percent in September, a 16-year low, and the economy is in its ninth year of expansion. Inflation and interest rates are low and she is gradually backing off crisis-era policies and unwinding the Fed’s $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith declined to comment on Yellen’s renomination prospects.
Within the White House, Trump’s interview of Yellen was regarded as serious, not just a courtesy, two of the people said. The president genuinely considers her a finalist for the job, the people said, despite misgivings among many of his closest advisers.
“I really like her a lot,” he said Friday in an interview with Fox Business Network broadcast Sunday.
Other contenders for the job, Trump said in the interview, are Taylor and Powell, or some combination of the two — the Fed Board vice chairman position is also open.