Cain withdraws from consideration for Fed
Move is a setback for President Trump.
Move a hitch in president’s attempt to alter direction of central bank
WASHINGTON – Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain withdrew his name from consideration for a seat on the Federal Reserve board on Monday, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump’s push to significantly alter the central bank’s direction.
Trump said on Twitter that he would not nominate Cain for the position at Cain’s request.
“My friend Herman Cain, a truly wonderful man, has asked me not to nominate him for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board,” Trump wrote. “I will respect his wishes. Herman is a great man who truly loves our country!”
Trump announced on April 4 that he intended to nominate Cain for the Federal Reserve position.
But Cain’s possible nomination has caused a considerable backlash among Democrats and some Republicans in Congress.
Four GOP senators – Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Cory Gardner of Colorado – announced their opposition to the appointment, virtually dooming his chance of winning confirmation.
Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, told the Wall Street Journal last week that he was “very committed” to going through the vetting process as the White House decides whether to formally nominate him for the position.
“The president asked me one simple question. … He said, ’Would you consider doing this if you make it through the process?’ I said yes. Didn’t hesitate,” Cain told the Journal.
Cain, known to millions of Americans for the “9-9-9” tax plan he pushed during his 2012 run for the GOP presidential nomination, has repeatedly been accused of sexual harassment.
Trump had not formally nominated Cain to the seven-member board but had announced his intentions to do so. He called Cain “an outstanding person.”
Trump, a fierce critic of the central bank, said he would name Reagan-era economic commentator Stephen Moore to a spot on the seven-member Federal Reserve board in March. Taken together, the appointments underscore Trump’s desire to make significant chances to Fed policy.
Congressional Democrats ridiculed both picks and compared them to a “Saturday Night Live“skit. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Moore and Cain “totally ill-suited, unqualified” for the positions.
Moore, meanwhile, came under fire on Monday after CNN reported he had written columns arguing that women should be banned from refereeing, announcing or beer vending at men’s college basketball games.
“How outrageous is this?” Moore wrote in one column published on the website of the conservative magazine National Review. “This year they allowed a woman (to) ref a men’s NCAA game. Liberals celebrate this breakthrough as a triumph for gender equity. The NCAA has been touting this as example of how progressive they are. I see it as an obscenity. Is there no area in life where men can take vacation from women?”
In another column, Moore suggested changes to the March Madness basketball tournament to get rid of its “unAmerican” aspects, CNN reported.
“Here’s the rule change I propose: No more women refs, no women announcers, no women beer vendors, no women anything,” he wrote.
Moore told CNN the columns were a spoof, adding: “I have a sense of humor.”
The Fed, an independent board whose members are appointed by the president, raises interest rates to cool down a hot economy and cuts them to stimulate a sluggish one.
In December, the Fed said it had penciled in two rate increases this year following four increases in 2018 as part of a campaign to return rates to more normal levels as the economy has improved since the Great Recession.
Cain’s “9-9-9 plan” to overhaul the tax code called for a 9% flat tax on household income, 9% corporate tax and 9% national sales tax. The former candidate drew wide support from the tea party movement.
Cain was the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Omaha Branch, from 1989 to 1991.