The US Senate has approved President Donald Trump’s appointment Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors – part of a committee that determines the nation’s interest rates.
The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Miran will be the first White House official currently in office to serve on the Fed’s board since its establishment in its current incarnation in the 1930s.
He was narrowly confirmed on Monday by a 48-47 vote.
The addition of the economist has set alarm bells ringing about the central bank’s long tradition of independence and comes after Trump’s attempt to remake the Federal Reserve.
Miran will participate in a critical Fed policy meeting this week as one of 12 voting members, and will play a key role in Trump’s attempt at a big interest rate cut.
Senate clears Trump pick Miran key interest rate vote
The Fed would sanction a quarter-percentage point rate cut to aid a faltering labour market.
Miran is a defender of Trump’s worldwide tariffs, maintaining the import duties will not stoke inflation and that policies such as tougher immigration will lower housing demand and house prices.
The White House economist’s expedited confirmation vote has moved in a matter of weeks, when it usually takes months for a Fed governor nominee to get approved by the Senate.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren expressed fears that Miran would be perceived as a “puppet” who would not be respected as an independent voice on the Fed board.
Trump has pressured the Fed for months to cut interest rates to spur the US economy and make it easier for the government to borrow.
The president has also attacked Fed chair Jerome Powell, calling him a “numbskull” and “too late”.
Miran vote arrives as Trump is also trying to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook from the central bank for alleged mortgage fraud and constitutional authority to remove her.
Senate clears Trump pick Miran key interest rate vote
Cook, the first African-American woman to be a Fed governor, has denied the accusations and sued to prevent her removal.
She voted in recent months to leave interest rates unchanged this year.
On Monday, a US appeals court rejected the justice department’s motion to lift an earlier order to temporarily stop Trump from removing Cook.
The Trump administration is also launching mortgage fraud investigations into Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, political foes of the president.
