Trump’s pick gets closer to Fed board

Judy Shelton, President Donald Trump’s contentious pick for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, cleared a key hurdle to confirmation by winning the approval of a majority on the Senate Banking Committee.

She was backed in a party-line vote Tuesday, 13-12. The committee also voted in favor of Fed nominee Christopher Waller, currently director of research at the St. Louis Fed.

Shelton — who has drawn sharp criticism for her unorthodox views on monetary policy and for her sudden willingness to espouse an approach that hews with the president’s — could still fall short before the full Senate, where four Republican defections could block her confirmation. Utah’s Mitt Romney has already said he has “concerns” about the nomination.

Some Shelton critics have warned that Trump might elevate her to replace Jerome Powell when his term ends in 2022, imperiling the independence of the U.S. central bank. That’s assuming the president wins re-election in November and is unhappy with his current Fed chair, whom he’s recently praised after years of harsh criticism for too-tight policy.

Committee chair Mike Crapo, Republican of Idaho, said Shelton had affirmed in writing that she believed in Fed independence and that diverse views were important for monetary policy.

Shelton holds a doctorate in business administration from the University of Utah and acted as an informal adviser to the Trump campaign in 2016.

A strict inflation hawk, she long favored returning the U.S. to the gold standard and has questioned the need for a central-bank-controlled benchmark interest rate.

Shelton, during her testimony at a February hearing, insisted that no one will tell her what to do.

“I believe that the independence of the Federal Reserve is a vital aspect of its credibility with the public,” Shelton said.