By Ann Saphir
Feb 11 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran on Wednesday said he would be “very happy” to stay on at the central bank longer term if asked, but the decision is not up to him.
Miran’s term expired January 31, and though he can stay in it until a replacement is confirmed, his is the only Fed board seat to which President Donald Trump can nominate former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to be the next Fed Chair unless current Fed Chair Jerome Powell resigns from the Fed Board when his leadership term is up in mid-May.
Powell has not said what he will do; his seat as Fed governor doesn’t expire until January 2028.
“What happens later this year will depend on a variety of things; it depends if there’s an open seat, it depends on the choice that the president makes, it depends on choices that the Senate makes,” Miran said in an interview on Fox Business with Larry Kudlow, who pressed him on whether he’d like to remain at the U.S. central bank. “I absolutely would, but that’s not up to me. There’s got to be a seat available.”
Miran has pushed for more Fed easing than his colleagues at every Fed meeting he’s attended since he was nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate last September.
On Wednesday, after a stronger-than-expected jobs report appeared to bolster the case against further rate cuts, he reiterated his support for lower rates, citing his expectation that a dramatic drop in housing inflation will ease overall price pressures this year, as will the Trump administration’s deregulatory push because it will allow economic output to surge.
“While today’s jobs data made me feel really good about the economy, I think the truth is that pushing out the supply side of the economy still allows for monetary policies to accommodate,” Miran said.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chris Reese and Diane Craft)
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