US President Donald Trump’s Federal Reserve nominee vowed Thursday to “preserve” the central bank’s independence if confirmed, despite plans to also keep his White House job.
As Trump tries to bend the Fed to his will, some senators worried that if Stephen Miran did not resign as Trump’s economic adviser, he would continue to act in the president’s interest while serving on the Fed’s board. Trump has aggressively pressured the Fed to lower interest rates and wants to fill the board with loyalists; his Justice Department is investigating a Fed governor who sued Trump for firing her.
Miran’s promise to resist political pressure, however, is key to reassuring financial markets, which have reacted badly to Trump’s campaign against the central bank.