The US Senate on Monday narrowly cleared President Donald Trump’s choice for a key role at the Federal Reserve, as the clock ticks down to the central bank’s next policy meeting.
The decision came just as a US federal appeals court also ruled Monday night that Fed Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her position while challenging her ouster from the bank — after Trump sought to fire her.
Both developments set the stage for the two-day gathering of the bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), due to begin early Tuesday.
All eyes will be on the outcomes of this gathering amid concern over political pressure faced by the independent central bank.
Late Monday, the Republican-majority Senate voted 48-47 to confirm Stephen Miran, who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), allowing him to join the Fed’s board of governors and the FOMC, which sets interest rates steering the world’s biggest economy.
The FOMC’s 12 voting members include the seven members of the Fed’s board of governors.
With the latest ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Cook also is due to participate in the gathering.
Although the Trump administration could turn to the Supreme Court for further intervention, time is running low before the Fed meeting opens.
Miran’s swift confirmation and Cook’s lawsuit come as Trump intensified pressure on the central bank to slash interest rates this year, often citing benign inflation figures in doing so.
But critics worry that the president’s moves threaten the Fed’s separation from politics.
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