Biden appoints Lael Brainard, Jared Bernstein to key economic jobs
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President Biden is reconfiguring his economic team, with new appointments for two top White House jobs as he enters the second half of his term.
Driving the news: Lael Brainard, the No. 2 official at the Federal Reserve, will head Biden's National Economic Council, and Jared Bernstein will be nominated to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, the White House announced Tuesday.
The background: Brainard is a deeply experienced economic policy hand, having worked for the Clinton administration and in the Obama Treasury Department. She takes over for Brian Deese, who guided Biden's economic policy for the first two years of his term.
- The move puts a seasoned economist at the president's right hand as he faces a debt-ceiling showdown with House Republicans and a potential recession.
- Her move to the White House makes her a prime candidate to become the next Treasury secretary or Federal Reserve chair when those positions next open up, particularly if Biden wins re-election.
- It also opens up a crucial job at the Fed, giving Biden the opportunity to app0int a new No. 2 official at the central bank at a delicate time. Brainard has a particularly broad role there in both management and policy-setting.
State of play: Bernstein is currently a member of the Council of Economic Advisers; he is to replace Cecilia Rouse, who is returning to her professorship at Princeton.
- Bernstein advised Biden during his time as vice president and has been an influential voice in left-of-center policy circles for decades. He is not an academic economist, however, as is more traditional for a CEA chair. His doctorate is in social welfare.
What they're saying: "Lael, one of the country’s leading macroeconomists, brings an extraordinary depth of domestic and international economic expertise," President Biden said in a statement. "She is a trusted veteran across our economic institutions, and understands how the economy affects everyday people."
- "Jared is a brilliant thinker and one of my closest and longest-serving economic advisers," the statement added. "A former social worker, Jared was in the foxhole with me while I was Vice President, and he understands that a job is about far more than a paycheck, it’s about the dignity of work."
In other moves, the White House announced that Joelle Gamble, the chief economist at the Labor Department, will become a deputy director of the National Economic Council.
- Also, Heather Boushey, a member of the CEA, will also serve as chief economist to the "Invest in America Cabinet," a group the president established to focus on carrying out his domestic investment initatives.
- Also, Bharat Ramamurti, current deputy NEC director, will also serve as advisor for strategic economic communications
