Biden to keep Powell as Fed chair

President Joe Biden announced he’s nominating Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair, endorsing Powell’s stewardship of the economy through a brutal pandemic recession in which the Fed’s ultra-low rate policies helped bolster confidence and revitalize the job market. Biden also said he would nominate Lael Brainard, the lone Democrat on the Fed’s Board of Governors and the preferred alternative to Powell for many progressives, as vice chair. The president said he will fill the three remaining slots on the board, including vice chair for supervision, a bank regulatory post, in “early December.” His decision strikes a note of continuity and bipartisanship at a time when surging inflation is burdening households.