Trump says he intends to nominate Christopher Waller, Judy Shelton for Fed board

President Trump announced Tuesday evening that he intends to nominate Christopher Waller and Judy Shelton to fill the two vacancies on the Federal Reserve board of governors.

….Prior to his current position, Christopher served as a professor and Chair of Economics at Notre Dame.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2019

I am pleased to announce that it is my intention to nominate Judy Shelton, Ph. D., U.S. Executive Dir, European Bank of Reconstruction & Development. Judy is a Founding Member of the board of directors of Empower America and has served on the board of directors of Hilton Hotels.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2019

Waller is currently executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, while Shelton is the U.S. executive director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Both nominees will require Senate confirmation.

{mosads}Shelton was widely reported to be under consideration for a spot on the Fed board. She previously served as an economic adviser to Trump during the 2016 campaign.

She has been a critic of the Fed and shares Trump’s view that the central bank should be slashing interest rates. Shelton has also voiced support for a monetary system backed by more than government assurances, similar to the gold standard.

Trump’s initial choices for the two vacant seats on the Fed board — Stephen Moore and Herman Cain — withdrew from consideration in late April and early May amid controversy over their past comments and behavior toward women.

In both cases, GOP senators made clear the two men would not have the support to get through the confirmation process.

Trump has been a sharp critic of the Fed, particularly Chairman Jerome Powell. The president has argued the Fed stunted economic growth by raising interest rates earlier in his term, blurring, according to critics, the traditional line between the White House and the independent central bank.

If confirmed, Shelton would be perhaps the most sympathetic Fed board member to Trump’s demand to cut interest rates. After arguing for years against the Fed’s recession-era rate cuts, Shelton has since backed up Trump’s call for cheaper money amid the threat of an economic slowdown.

The Fed announced in June that it may slash interest rates if the global economy continues to fade and inflation remains below the bank’s 2 percent target range, and some Fed officials have already called for a rate cut. 

While Shelton would be only one of at least 11 votes on interest rate movements, her confirmation to the Fed board could give Trump an ally within the central bank. 

Updated at 6:57 p.m.