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President-elect Joe Biden introduced the first set of nominations for his economic team on Monday, formally announcing his selection of Janet Yellen to be Secretary of the Treasury, Neera Tanden to head the office of administration and budget, and Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council on the Economy. . Advisors (CEA).
Biden also announced his intention to nominate Adewale Adeyemo, a former senior adviser at BlackRock, as undersecretary of the Treasury. Adeyemo is a Nigerian-born lawyer and president of the Obama Foundation.
“As we get to work to control the virus, this is the team that will bring immediate economic relief to the American people during this economic crisis and help us rebuild our economy better than ever,” Biden said in a statement.
If confirmed, the Yellen, Tanden and Rouse nominations would mark the first time that the top three economic spots confirmed by the Senate went to women. Tanden’s nomination already appeared to be in trouble with Republican Senate aides who voiced opposition Sunday even before it was formally announced.
Yellen issued a statement on Twitter, saying “We must restore the American dream.”
“As Secretary of the Treasury, I will work every day to rebuild that dream for everyone,” he said.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index fluctuated on Monday amid the announcement that Yellen would be nominated. The indicator extended its 2020 decline to trade at the lowest level since early 2018 before cutting losses.
Yellen won praise from both parties for his nomination, and Patrick McHenry, the highest-ranking Republican on the House financial services committee, said in a statement that he has demonstrated “intellect, foresight and independence” during the financial crisis.
Hank Paulson, who was Secretary of the Treasury during the Bush administration, said: “Janet’s credibility with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle will be of enormous importance as our country continues to recover from the economic shocks caused by the pandemic.” .
Biden has also chosen two economic advisers from his presidential campaign, Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey, to be members of the CEA.
Biden did not announce his election to a key economic position in the White House, director of the National Economic Council. But the job is likely to be offered to Brian Deese, another BlackRock executive who served in the Obama administration, people familiar with the matter said.
Drew Brandewie, aide to Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn, said on Twitter that Tanden “has no chance of being confirmed.”
Another aide said that Republicans in the Senate would certainly block Tanden, who is seen as too progressive even though he has also had feuds with some on the left.
The choices show Biden turning to Washington’s experienced hands as he begins to build his economic team, with an eye toward racial and gender diversity.
The group of six nominees includes three women, two African Americans and one American Indian, as Biden seeks to place women and minorities in jobs historically held by white men.
He received some criticism from Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking black lawmaker in Congress, who is credited with helping Biden with the South Carolina primary, a victory that accelerated his progress toward the nomination.
In an interview with Juan Williams for his column in The Hill newspaper, Clyburn indicated that he was disappointed that the president-elect had appointed only “one black woman so far” to a high-level position: Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador for the ONU.
“I want to see where the process leads, what it produces,” added Clyburn. “But so far it’s not good.”
Tanden, an Indian-American who runs the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, worked on the Obama administration’s health care reform and was a close adviser to Hillary Clinton.
Rouse also served in the Obama administration as a member of the CEA and is dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. If confirmed, she would be the first African-American to chair the CEA.
Adeyemo would bring international economic experience to the Biden team, complementing Yellen’s more domestic approach throughout his academic and government career. Adeyemo was Jack Lew’s deputy chief of staff when he was Secretary of the Treasury and was the first chief of staff for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Elizabeth Warren.
Bernstein and Boushey are very loved by progressives. Boushey, who runs the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, has advocated for paid parental leave and an increase in the minimum wage. Bernstein was Biden’s top economic adviser in the White House during former President Barack Obama’s first term.
Biden’s team will inherit an American economy shaken by the coronavirus pandemic and will have to try to sustain its revival. There are already signs of increasing fragility as virus infection rates rise and states begin to block business again. That threatens the nascent job market recovery, with jobless claims spiking and a forecast that payroll gains will slow further in November.
Bloomberg
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