President Donald Trump’s nominee to join the Federal Reserve Board of Governors insisted to lawmakers Thursday he would keep the central bank independent and would take an “unpaid leave of absence” from his current White House position if confirmed to the role.
Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, appeared in front of the Senate Banking Committee, where he declared that the “independence of the central bank is of paramount importance for the economy, for financial markets, for the long-run stewardship of the country.”
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, commonly known as the Fed board, is composed of seven members, or governors, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Trump has said that Miran — if confirmed — will serve in the role until Jan. 31.
When Miran was asked by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., if he would abandon his White House job if confirmed to the Federal Reserve role, Miran said, “I have received advice from counsel that what is required is an unpaid leave of absence from the Council of Economic Advisers.”
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“And, so, considering the term for which I’m being nominated is a little bit, more than four months, that is what I will be taking. As long as that is the advice of counsel, I will follow the law,” Miran added.
Reed then argued that Miran’s “independence has already been seriously compromised by your statement.”
“You are going to be technically an employee of the president of the United States, but an independent member of the board of the Federal Reserve? That’s ridiculous,” Reed said.
At one point in the hearing, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said, “Hopefully, we can get that Federal Reserve stronger again with independent-minded people who actually take politics out of it.”
Moreno made that remark after asking Miran a series of questions, including, “Have you ever lied on a mortgage application with the objective of getting a lower interest rate?”
“I have never done that,” Miran said.
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That inquiry came on the same day the Justice Department confirmed to Fox News that it had launched a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage application fraud.
A lawsuit from Cook against Trump argued that the president’s move to fire her is unlawful and undermines the Federal Reserve’s independence.
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., also told Miran, “I applaud the president for nominating you.”
“You’ve been very clear that you want to get out of the political arena. You want the Fed to get out of the political arena that it’s been operating in, whether it be racial equity, green projects or, you know, timing of interest rate adjustments to politics,” Hagerty said.
Miran told lawmakers the president “nominated me because I have policy views, that, I suppose that he liked.”
“If I’m confirmed to this role, I will act independently — as the Federal Reserve always does — based on my own personal analysis of economic data, my own personal analysis of the effects of economic policies upon the economy and act based on my judgment of the best economic policy possible,” he continued.
“That said, I’m always happy to hear views from every source possible,” Miran said. “It’s important to me to hear a variety of views, to make sure that I really do think that the things that I think, to challenge my own views and interrogate them and hearing a variety of views on that matter is always helpful.”
FOX Business’ Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
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