Trump asks GOP senators for show of hands on Fed nominee choices

President Trump asked Senate Republicans for a show of hands in support of potential nominees for chairman of the Federal Reserve as he took part in a lunch meeting Tuesday with the caucus, according to two lawmakers.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn the chamber’s No. 2 GOP lawmaker, declined to say which names Trump ticked off or who drew the most raised hands. But Sen. Tim Scott said Trump asked specifically about Stanford University economist John Taylor and Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell. He also mentioned the current Fed chair, Janet Yellen.

Trump “didn’t announce a winner, but I think Taylor won,” Scott said.

Trump told reporters on Monday he was “very, very close” to announcing his nominee to serve as the next Fed chair. Yellen’s current four-year term ends in February. The White House has said he’ll make a decision before he leaves for a trip to Asia on Nov. 3.

The president has said he’s working off a short list of candidates for the top job at the central bank. It is said to include Yellen, Taylor, Powell, Gary Cohn, director of the White House National Economic Council, and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.

President Donald J. Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the National Governors Association meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Trump will propose boosting defense spending by $54 billion in his first budget plan and offset that by an equal amount cut from the rest of the government's discretionary budget, according to administration officials. Photographer: Aude Guerrucci/Pool via Bloomberg

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Donald Trump Janet Yellen Jerome Powell
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