(Bloomberg) -- Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown said he expects President Joe Biden will release a combination of nominations to the board of the Federal Reserve at the time he unveils his decision on the central bank chair.
“I think the president -- I don’t speak for him of course -- but is probably waiting, and put a whole slate forward” of up to four Fed board picks, Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said in an interview Tuesday on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power With David Westin.” He said he has talked with the president about the matter, though couldn’t predict what Biden will do.
Brown declined to specify whether he wants Fed Chair Jerome Powell nominated for a second term, saying it’s Biden’s decision to make.
“When the president looks for making up to four nominations -- maybe including Powell, maybe not -- there will be a much greater emphasis on workers,” Brown predicted.
He reiterated that he thought Powell has done a “reasonably good job” on monetary policy, while he thinks he has “fallen short” on regulating Wall Street and on climate change.
“We get along well,” he said of Powell, noting that the Fed chief is aware of his criticisms on the regulatory and climate change fronts.
Brown said aside from the chair, the vacant vice chair of supervision slot is “really, really, really important” and he has advocated a couple of people to Biden, declining to specify their names.
The Senate Banking chief has stood apart from progressive Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who late last month said she wouldn’t back Powell for a second term, saying his regulatory record made him a “dangerous” candidate.
(Updates with additional comment from Brown and broader context on Powell’s standing in the Senate.)
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