President Donald Trump is very close to making a decision on his nominee to be vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official also said that Richard Clarida, a managing director at the Pacific Investment Management Co. seen as a contender for the pick, was not the president’s choice.
The No. 2 position has been vacant since Stanley Fischer retired in October. The nomination will be part of a wider leadership shake-up at the U.S. central bank after Trump picked Fed Gov. Jerome Powell to replace Janet Yellen when her term as chair ends early next month.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Clarida had been interviewed for the job. He declined to comment on the article.
Other names linked to the position at the time include former Fed Gov. Lawrence Lindsey, head of an economic advisory firm, and Mohamed El-Erian, a columnist for Bloomberg View and chief economic adviser at Allianz SE, Pimco’s parent company. Neither could be immediately reached for comment on Monday.
The nomination, which is subject to Senate confirmation, gives Trump the opportunity to continue to put his stamp on the seven-seat Fed Board in Washington. He has already selected Randal Quarles, who served in President George W. Bush’s Treasury, as the Fed’s vice chairman of supervision, and has nominated Marvin Goodfriend, a well-known monetary economist, to be a Fed governor.
The Fed vice chairman plays a critical support role for the central bank’s leader, and often heads special projects at the request of the chair. Along with the president of the New York Fed, who acts as the central bank’s eyes and ears on Wall Street, the vice chairman typically forms a key voting block with the chairman on both policy and strategy.
The New York Fed is also looking for a new leader after its president, William Dudley, announced plans to step down in mid-2018.
