Senate OKs Miran for Fed board

Top Trump adviser to have say on rates

- TONY ROMM COLBY SMITH

Senate Republicans on Monday confirmed Stephen Miran, one of President Donald Trump's top economic advisers, to serve as a Federal Reserve governor, muscling past the objections of Democrats who doubted that he could resist the political influence of the White House.

Republicans swiftly approved Mr Miran on a 48-47 vote, largely along party lines, just days after they reconfigured the chamber's rules so they could more easily advance the president's nominees. For Mr Miran, the outcome opened the door for him to join the Fed in time for its two-day meeting, beginning yesterday, where policymakers are preparing to lower interest rates after an extended pause.

Since the start of Trump's second term, Mr Miran has served as the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, where he helped to produce research to advance and defend the president's agenda, including his punishing global tariffs. Like Trump, Mr Miran believes those duties have not caused inflation, and he has shared the president's criticism of the Fed.

In an unorthodox arrangement, Mr Miran said he planned to take only a leave of absence from his advisory post, serving a potentially short term at the Fed before returning to the White House. That decision has prompted concern from Democrats, economists and former government officials, including some Republicans, who said it posed a severe conflict of interest and threatened to expose the central bank to political interference.

Even Mr Miran previously endorsed a ban on what he described last year as the "revolving door between the executive branch and the Fed."