Biden meets with potential Fed picks Powell, Brainard: report

President Biden has met with Jerome Powell and Lael Brainard, who are both regarded as potential choices for the position of Federal Reserve chair, Bloomberg was told by people familiar with the situation.

Powell, the current Fed chairman, and Fed Governor Brainard each met with the president at the White House on Thursday, two days after Biden said during a press conference that he was planning to announce multiple Fed nominees “fairly quickly.”

The president has not made a final decision on who he will appoint to the position, the people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. 

Sources told Axios in a report released Thursday that the White House has asked Democratic senators to meet with Powell before Thanksgiving, leading some to believe Powell will be renominated to the position.

Powell was appointed to the Federal Reserve chair position by former President Trump in 2018. His current term set is set to expire in February. 

He has garnered support from Democrats, Republicans and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

However, some Democrats are pushing for Biden to replace Powell with Brainard, the sole Democrat currently serving on the Fed’s board. Brainard is seen as the most likely candidate for the position if the president decides not to reappoint Powell.

Selecting Brainard would be a different pathway for the president to navigate, as whoever he picks for the role will have to make it through a vote in the evenly divided Senate.