Fed Governor Philip Jefferson named as new vice chair to succeed Lael Brainard

cnbc.com:

Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson will be nominated by President Joe Biden to be vice chairman of the central bank's board, the White House announced Friday.

Though one of the newest members of the Board of Governors, Jefferson would take over a key policymaking position at a time when the Fed is trying to tamp down inflation without causing a harmful recession.

Biden also said he will nominate Adriana Kugler for a vacant governor's seat and Lisa Cook for another term as governor. Kugler is currently the U.S. representative to the World Bank and would be the first Latina on the board, while Cook has been on the board since May 2022.

«These nominees understand that this job is not a partisan one, but one that plays a critical role in pursuing maximum employment, maintaining price stability, and supervising many of our nation's financial institutions,» Biden said in a statement. «I am confident these nominees will help build upon the historically strong economic recovery we have had under my Administration.»

The moves, which will need Senate confirmation, come as the Fed also is navigating its way through a banking crisis that has seen multiple regional institutions shuttered over the past two months.

The Senate confirmed Jefferson to the board in May 2022, four months after he was nominated by President Joe Biden.

Since taking his seat, Jefferson has been relatively quiet on the policy front. In recent remarks, he argued against raising the Fed's 2% inflation target and said he wasn't especially worried about the pace at which the economy is slowing. He has voted for each of the interest rate increases approved since he took his seat.

As vice chair, he takes a position last occupied by Lael Brainard, who is now