Latest news with #FederalReserveboard
Business Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Trump taps top economic aide for vacant Fed seat
[WASHINGTON] US President Donald Trump on Thursday named the leader of his White House economic panel to fill a recently vacated seat on the Federal Reserve board, as he seeks to boost his sway over the independent central bank. 'It is my Great Honor to announce that I have chosen Dr Stephen Miran, current Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, to serve in the just vacated seat on the Federal Reserve Board until Jan 31, 2026,' he announced on his website, Truth Social. 'In the meantime, we will continue to search for a permanent replacement,' Trump added. Miran will finish out the term of Adriana Kugler, an appointee of former president Joe Biden who announced her resignation last week. The personnel shift comes as the Fed faces intensifying pressure under Trump, who has repeatedly criticised the central bank's chief Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates sooner. Miran, who obtained a PhD in economics from Harvard, has advocated in favour of tariffs and moving away from a strong US dollar, which he argues makes US exports less competitive and harms American manufacturing. Miran's 41-page essay titled 'A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System' has been seen as providing rationale for Trump's aggressive trade policies. Trump said Miran would do an 'outstanding' job in his new post. 'Has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled,' Trump wrote. 'Congratulations Stephen!' AFP
Los Angeles Times
01-08-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Trump urges Fed board to ‘assume control' if rates not cut
President Donald Trump called on the Federal Reserve board to 'assume control' if Chair Jerome Powell does not lower interest rates, escalating his ongoing feud with the central bank's head. 'Jerome 'Too Late' Powell, a stubborn MORON, must substantially lower interest rates, NOW. IF HE CONTINUES TO REFUSE, THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!,' the president wrote on social media Friday. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the president's remarks. Trump's post came after Fed officials left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. In his post-meeting press conference, Powell didn't offer any clear sign that policymakers were likely to cut at their next meeting, in September. Investors now anticipate just one cut by year's end. Rate decisions are made by the Federal Open Market Committee, which Powell chairs. Its voters include the seven members of the Fed Board of Governors in Washington, and five presidents of the Fed's regional reserve banks. The FOMC elects its leader and a vice chair once a year. Following Wednesday's decision, Trump resumed his sharp criticism of Powell after a short-lived detente, hammering the central bank chief over rate-setting policies and a renovation of the Fed's headquarters that critics have accused the chair of mismanaging. Trump has asked lawmakers about whether he should fire Powell, then told reporters he had no intention of doing so, suggesting he was willing to wait until the bank chief's term as chair ends in May. Two Fed governors, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, voted against Wednesday's decision, the first time two members of the board have dissented since 1993. Trump cited those votes in a subsequent social media post, writing: 'STRONG DISSENTS ON FED BOARD. IT WILL ONLY GET STRONGER!' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday he expected Trump to be able to announce Powell's replacement by the end of the year. 'We are putting together a very good list of candidates,' he told CNBC. 'I would expect that we could have an announcement by the end of the year.' Bessent also pointed to dissenting voices in Wednesday's decision and to two potential openings on the Fed board early next year, suggesting that it could soon have a 'majority' of advocates in favor of rate cuts. Governor Adriana Kugler's position opens in January, and Powell's slot on the board would be the second, if he decides to leave the central bank altogether when his term as chair is up. Powell has leaned into the view that the Fed is well-positioned for now, given lingering uncertainties surrounding the economic impact of Trump's tariffs. His message on Wednesday was carefully balanced, tempering expectations for a September rate cut, but not closing the door to one. Lowenkron and Crane write for Bloomberg.
Bloomberg
31-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Summers Backs Powell's Silence on Staying On at Fed Past May
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers backed Jerome Powell's silence on whether he will step down from the Federal Reserve board when his term as chair is up in May 2026, declining to align with the current Treasury chief on the issue. 'I don't see any reason at all for why he should prejudge that question,' Summers said on Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week with David Westin. 'It'll depend upon aspects of his life, I imagine, and it will depend on who the next Fed chair is and what the sense is of how the Fed is going to operate going forward.'
