Onetime senior Obama administration official Brian Deese will serve as the director of the National Economic Council in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, Politico reported.
Deese, who previously served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will be formally named to the team later in the week, according to the news outlet. Other appointees to the president-elect’s economic team are likely to be announced first, including onetime Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary and Adewale Adeyemo as deputy Treasury secretary.
Biden on Monday also announced Neera Tanden, head of the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, as OMB director and Princeton’s Cecilia Rouse as head of the Council of Economic Advisers.
“[Deese] has just proven himself to be an effective champion for transitioning the economy to be a cleaner economy,” former White House chief of staff and Center for American Progress founder John Podesta told Politico. “There is no question in my mind that he will campaign aggressively on behalf of the environment.”
Deese was part of the Obama administration’s team working on both environmental issues and the bailout of the auto industry. He currently works as an executive at investment firm BlackRock, with a focus on investments in sustainability. However, this work has also led to concerns among some progressive watchdog groups about potential conflicts of interest if he serves in a financial role in the administration.
“We are concerned, as our name suggests, with revolving door hires,” Jeff Hauser, founder of the Revolving Door Project, told Politico. “And Brian Deese’s [relationship] to BlackRock makes it less likely that the federal government will rein in BlackRock as it should be.”
The Hill has reached out to the Biden team for comment.
— Updated at 9:42 a.m.