President Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate a top economic adviser to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors for four months, temporarily filling a vacancy while continuing his search for a longer-term appointment.
Miran has been a major defender of Trump’s income tax cuts and tariff hikes, arguing that the combination will generate enough economic growth to reduce budget deficits. He also has played down the risk of Trump’s tariffs generating higher inflation, a major source of concern for Powell.
Federal Reserve governors vote on all the central bank’s interest-rate decisions, as well as its financial regulatory policies.
Miran’s nomination, if approved, would add a near-certain vote in support of lower interest rates. Kugler had echoed Powell’s view that the Fed should keep rates unchanged and further evaluate the impact of tariffs on the economy before making any moves.
Still, even with Miran on the board, 12 Fed officials vote on interest rate policy and many remain concerned that Trump’s sweeping tariffs could push inflation higher in the coming months.
Miran could be renominated to a longer term on the Fed once his initial appointment is concluded, or replaced by another nominee.
Powell’s term as chair ends in May 2026. Yet, Powell could remain on the board of governors until January 2028, even after he steps down as chair. That would deny, or at least delay, an opportunity for Trump to appoint an additional policymaker to the Fed’s board.
As a result, one option for Trump is to appoint Powell’s eventual replacement as chair to replace Kugler once the remaining four months of her term are completed. Leading candidates for that position include Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 and frequent critic of Powell’s chairmanship, and Kevin Hassett, another top Trump economic adviser.
Another option for the White House next May would be to select Waller, who is already on the board, to replace Powell, and who has been widely mentioned as a candidate.
After the July jobs report was released last Friday, Miran criticized the Fed chair for not cutting benchmark interest rates, saying that Trump had been proven correct on inflation during his first term and would be again. The president has pressured Powell to cut short-term interest rates under the belief that his tariffs will not fuel higher inflationary pressures.
“What we’re seeing now in real time is a repetition once again of this pattern where the president will end up having been proven right,” Miran said on MSNBC. “And the Fed will, with a lag and probably quite too late, eventually catch up to the president’s view.”
Last year, Miran expressed support for some unconventional economic views in commentaries on the Fed and international economics.
“The Fed’s current governance has facilitated groupthink that has led to significant monetary-policy errors,” Miran wrote in a paper with Dan Katz, now a top official at the Treasury Department.
