President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr officially named top members of his economic team on Monday, showcasing his commitment to diversity and placing several women in top economic roles.
With the picks, which require Senate confirmation, Biden is sending a clear message that economic policymaking in his administration will be shaped by liberal thinkers with a strong focus on worker empowerment as a tool for economic growth. They include:
- Cecilia Rouse, a Princeton labour economist, to run the three-member Council of Economic Advisers. She would be the first black woman to lead the council. A labour economist, she worked on Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers for two years and at the White House’s National Economic Council during the Clinton administration.
- Neera Tanden, the chief executive of the Center for American Progress, to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Tanden, who would be the first Indian-American to lead the Office of Management and Budget, has advocated aggressive spending to alleviate economic harm from the pandemic and has dismissed concerns about adding to the deficit at the current moment.
- Janet L. Yellen, the former Federal Reserve chair, as treasury secretary. Yellen, who is also a labour economist, was one of the first officials to suggest allowing the labour market to run “hot” — meaning leaving interest rates lower for longer — in order to help lift wages and get more people into jobs.
- Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey were named to join Rouse on the Council of Economic Advisers, which is a three-member team that advises the President on economic policy. They both come from a liberal, labour-oriented school of economics that views rising inequality as a threat to the economy and emphasises government efforts to support and empower workers. Bernstein was Biden’s first chief economist when he was vice president. Boushey was a top policy adviser to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Both have advocated a large stimulus package to help workers and businesses hurt by the pandemic recession.
- Adewale Adeyemo, known as Wally, a senior international economic adviser in the Obama administration, as deputy treasury secretary. An immigrant from Nigeria, he has extensive experience working at the treasury department during the Obama administration, when he was a senior adviser and deputy chief of staff.
- Brian Deese, a former Obama economic aide who helped lead that administration’s efforts to bail out the American automotive industry, has also been selected to lead the National Economic Council, according to three sources. Deese is a veteran of economic policymaking, having served as the acting head of the Office of Management and Budget and the deputy director of the Economic Council under Obama, as well as a special adviser on climate change.
The appointments could fall short of hopes within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which has been frustrated that their views are not being sufficiently represented in early personnel decisions. In particular, the decision to select Tanden, a divisive and partisan figure in the party, could culminate in an intra-party fight, as well as a confirmation battle.
Republicans, who are fighting to retain control of the Senate, are unlikely to easily pass Tanden, who advised Hillary Clinton, has been one of the most outspoken critics of President Trump.
New York Times News Service