President Donald Trump's nominee to fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve's board told senators at his confirmation hearing that he does not plan to resign from his White House post and would instead take a leave of absence if confirmed, a disclosure that drew sharp criticism from Democrats who warned it would bring the president closer to controlling the central bank.
Stephen Miran, chief of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on Thursday that he intended to step away from his White House duties for the short term if he is elevated to the Fed. He repeatedly assured lawmakers that he would act independently as a member of the Board of Governors, but Democrats said his continued ties to the administration and his responses at the hearing undermined those assurances.
Miran declined several Democrats' requests to demonstrate his independence by explicitly stating that Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election. He also avoided answering questions about whether the president was correct when he asserted that government officials had manipulated jobs data for political reasons. Lawmakers pressed Miran on past recommendations he has made regarding Fed structure and oversight, including prior warnings against appointing political figures to the central bank's board; Miran did not fully address how those past positions would square with his potential new role.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, said Miran would be perceived as a "puppet" who could not be trusted to serve independently. "You have made clear that you will do or say whatever Donald Trump wants," she told him during the hearing. Other Democrats expressed similar concerns that maintaining a close White House relationship while serving on the Fed board could erode the central bank's institutional independence.
Miran is the administration's pick to fill a Fed vacancy and has been serving as the White House's chief economic adviser. His nomination comes amid heightened scrutiny of the Fed's independence and of efforts by political actors to influence monetary policy decisions. The Board of Governors plays a central role in setting U.S. monetary policy, supervising banks and maintaining financial stability; its members typically serve staggered, multi-year terms designed to insulate the institution from short-term political pressures.
Republican senators questioned Miran about his economic views and sought to highlight his qualifications and policy experience, while Democrats focused on the optics and potential conflicts posed by his decision not to resign from his White House position. The confirmation process will continue in the Senate, where both the substance of Miran's answers and his professional ties to the administration are likely to shape lawmakers' votes.
Miran's hearing adds to an ongoing debate in Washington over the scope of presidential influence on independent agencies, and whether closer ties between the White House and the Federal Reserve would risk politicizing decisions on interest rates, bank supervision and the financial system. Democrats warned that elevating a nominee who plans to retain strong White House connections could move the central bank closer to the president, a prospect they said would undermine public trust in the Fed's impartiality.