How Donald Trump’s provocative economist crashed the Federal Reserve

Stephen Miran is poised to become first sitting White House official to join modern Fed's board

- Sam Goldfarb & Matt Grossman

Two years ago, Stephen Miran's career in finance seemed to reach a dead end. The investment firm he co-founded was closing, having never really gotten off the ground.

Now he is at the forefront of President Trump 's bid to remake the Federal Reserve.

Miran, chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, is poised to join the Fed's board of governors, part of the 12-member panel that sets interest rates to steer the U.S. economy. It would be the first time since the creation of the modern Fed in the 1930s that a sitting member of the executive branch would also serve at the central bank.

Miran, who previously criticized a "revolving door" between the Fed and the executive branch, has said he would take a leave from the council, but won't resign, while he serves a four-month Fed term that could potentially extend beyond its official end date. A Senate confirmation vote is set for Monday evening. If confirmed, Miran is expected to vote at the Fed's two-day policy meeting this week, placing him in the middle of Trump's pressure campaign to cut interest rates aggressively.

The rapid rise of the 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist from relative obscurity on Wall Street to the upper echelon of U.S. monetary policy stems from his deep-rooted devotion to the president's economic agenda and knack for stirring up debate with provocative arguments.

In a recent interview from his unfussy corner of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building that flanks the White House, Miran said his willingness to ask "forbidden questions" was an asset in fighting against groupthink.

"I'm never going to claim to be the smartest person in the room," he said. "I'm happy to be the most annoying person in the room."