U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate a top economic adviser to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, temporarily filling a vacancy as he seeks to boost his sway over the independent central bank.
Trump said he has named Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a seat vacated by Governor Adriana Kugler, a former President Joe Biden appointee who is stepping down Friday.
Kugler announced a surprise resignation last week, as she returns to her tenured professorship at Georgetown University.
Miran, if approved by the Senate, will serve until Jan. 31, 2026.
Trump said the White House continues to search for a permanent replacement to serve in the 14-year Fed Board seat that opens Feb. 1.
The appointment is Trump's first opportunity to exert more control over the Fed, one of the few remaining independent federal agencies. Trump has relentlessly criticized the current chair, Jerome Powell, for keeping short-term interest rates unchanged, calling him "a stubborn MORON" last week on social media.
Miran has advocated for a far-reaching overhaul of Fed governance that would include shortening Board member terms, putting them under the clear control of the president, and ending the "revolving door" between the executive branch and the Fed.
He has also 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.
Miran, who obtained a PhD in economics from Harvard, also has played down the risk of Trump's tariffs generating higher inflation, a major source of concern for Powell.
His 41-page essay titled "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System" has been seen as providing rationale for Trump's aggressive trade policies.
The choice of Miran may heighten concerns about political influence over the Fed, which has traditionally been insulated from day-to-day politics.
Fed independence is generally seen as key to ensuring that it can take difficult steps to combat inflation, such as raising interest rates, that politicians might be unwilling to take.
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.
At its most recent meeting last week, Fed officials kept their key rate unchanged at 4.3%, where it has stood after three rate cuts late last year. But two Fed governors – Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman – dissented from that decision. Both were appointed by Trump in his first term.
Still, even with Miran on the board, 12 Fed officials vote on rate policy and many remain concerned that Trump's sweeping tariffs could push inflation higher in the coming months.
After the July jobs report was released last Friday, Miran criticized Powell for not cutting 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 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."
Trump said Miran would do an "outstanding" job in his new post.
"Has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Congratulations Stephen!"
