Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is strongly pushing for the White House to name Jerome Powell as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, the most powerful economic job in the U.S. government, according to three people close to the selection process, Politico reported yesterday. Mnuchin has privately recommended Powell to President Donald Trump, according to one adviser close to the administration, who indicated that Mnuchin, who knows Powell well, feels comfortable with him and feels that he is a safe pick over whom Mnuchin can exert some measure of influence. Trump has not settled on any candidate yet, though he is expected to announce his choice in the next few weeks to ensure a nominee is in place by the time current Fed chair Janet Yellen’s term expires in February. The White House and Treasury declined to comment on any specific names floated for the position. Several people close to the process confirmed that the White House list has been whittled down to four candidates: Powell, a current Federal Reserve governor; Yellen, who was confirmed to the position under President Barack Obama in 2014 and is eligible to be reappointed; Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council and a former top banker at Goldman Sachs; and Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor and fellow at the Hoover Institution who spent years as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. Trump’s nominee will need to be confirmed by the Senate, with the Banking Committee leading the hearings.
