Trump drops top WH economist job from Cabinet

The White House is demoting the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from the Cabinet, a sign that President Trump will rely on a small and trusted stable of advisers to steer his decisions. 

Trump, who has yet to fill any of the slots on the three-member CEA, is dropping the job from a cabinet-level position that served every president since Harry Truman, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. 

{mosads}The new president may look more to his West Wing staff such such as Gary Cohn, who is head of the National Economic Council and is a former president of Goldman Sachs, Peter Navarro, who is heading up the National Trade Council, along with Cabinet secretaries such Wilbur Ross, the Commerce secretary designee.

The CEA, which was established by the Employment Act of 1946 and has specific duties, provides the White House with economic advice, disseminates the monthly jobs and other economic reports and prepares the annual economic report delivered to Congress. 

Presidents have typically chosen some of the nation’s top economists, including Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke and Janet Yellen, all who moved on to become chairmen of the Federal Reserve, all to serve in the distinguished position. 

The position must be confirmed by the Senate.

“It would clearly be far from ideal to not fill the CEA chair,” Gregory Mankiw, who was CEA chairman for President George W. Bush, told the Journal.

“There is a large body of work by academic economists that addresses issues of public policy,” Mankiw said. “The CEA chair is the person who is in the best position to bring this analysis into presidential decision-making.”