Trump moves to fill Fed, financial regulatory vacancies with two nominations

President Trump on Wednesday made nominations for two key economic policy positions, seeking to fill piling vacancies at the Federal Reserve and reshape the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).

Trump nominated Carnegie Mellon University economics professor Marvin Goodfriend to the Federal Reserve Board and insurance attorney Thomas Workman to FSOC. The two would play critical roles in shaping economic and financial regulatory policy through independent agencies.

Goodfriend worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond between 1978 and 2005, serving as the director of research and a policy adviser. He also served a an economist for the Fed and was on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors.

Goodfriend was nominated to fill the seat vacated by former Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin in 2014. The Fed is facing a slew of upcoming vacancies that could leave the bank without a quorum of governors.

Without a full quorum of four governors, the Fed board would be unable to legally make key monetary and regulatory moves.

Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet Yellen said she will resign from the bank upon the confirmation of Jerome Powell, who Trump nominated to be her successor. Former Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer left the bank in October and former Fed Governor Dan Tarullo resigned in April.

The Fed’s vacancies give Trump the chance to move the bank rightward.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) called Goodfriend “a highly respected researcher on monetary and macroeconomics and an impeccable conservative.”

“He understands that consulting monetary policy rules can provide both instructive guidance for the Fed and transparency for the public,” said Hensarling, who Trump has reportedly considered to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Workman was nominated to serve on FSOC, the interagency board of financial regulators, as the member with insurance expertise as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. He was president and CEO of the Life Insurance Council of New York from 1999 to 2016. Workman was an attorney for Bricker & Eckler in Columbus, Ohio from 1973 to 1999.