Biden’s decision on Fed chair said to be ‘imminent’

Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on Monday said White House officials have told him that President Biden’s choice of a Federal Reserve chief is “imminent.”

“I hear it’s imminent,” Brown told Bloomberg, though he cautioned that he does not know any additional details on timing or who the highly anticipated pick will be.

Jerome Powell is now the leader of the Federal Reserve, and could be nominated to another term. But Biden is facing pressure from the left to nominate a different candidate, such as board member Lael Brainard.

“I’m not going to speculate who I think it might be now. I assume the decision’s been made and they haven’t announced it, but I don’t even know that,” Brown said.

An announcement from the White House regarding the next chief of the central bank would cap off months of speculation in Washington, as many look to see who Biden will install in the post when Powell’s term ends in February. Former President Trump appointed Powell to the Fed chair in 2018.

Brainard is a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governor’s, and the only Democrat serving on the seven-member board.

Biden met with both Brainard and Powell at the White House earlier this month. On Nov. 2, he said he would be making a decision on the post “fairly quickly.”

Powell and Brainard are believed to be the two frontrunners for the position. No other names have leaked to the public.

Brainard, if appointed to the position, would be the second woman to head the Central Bank, following Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Powell, before being elevated to Fed chair, served on the Board of Governors after being nominated by former President Obama.