Senate OKs Trump’s latest pick to Fed’s board

The Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed the nomination of Christopher Waller for the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, placing another of President Donald Trump’s picks on the Fed’s influential board after a string of high-profile rejections.

The vote in favor of Waller was 48-47. Waller, research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, taught economics for nearly 25 years before joining the St. Louis Fed in 2009. He has endured far less scrutiny than Judy

Shelton, the nominee he was paired with and who was voted down in the Senate last month.

Still, all Democratic senators voted against his nomination, making it an unusually close vote to confirm a Fed governor. Fed officials typically seek to remain above partisan politics. Waller had won some Democratic votes when the Senate Banking Committee approved his nomination in July.

But Waller’s confirmation vote was also unusual in that it occurred during a lame-duck session of Congress. Senate Democrats would have preferred that

President-elect Joe Biden fill the seat. And some worried that Waller would agree with the Fed’s recent moves to loosen regulations on large banks.

In contrast to Shelton, Waller is a conventional, respected figure among economists. As an executive vice president of the St. Louis Fed, he has attended dozens of meetings of the Fed’s interest rate-setting policy committee, of which he will now become a voting member.

Waller’s research has focused on how the Fed’s communications affect financial markets and on the benefits of an independent central bank. His term on the board will last through January 2030.

With Waller’s confirmation, four of the Fed’s six governors have now been chosen by Trump. In addition, Jerome Powell was elevated to his chairmanship by Trump.

The only Democrat on the board of governors is Lael Brainard, who was considered a possible selection for Treasury secretary by Biden. That position went instead to former Fed Chair Janet Yellen. One seat on the Fed’s seven-member board remains vacant.