Biden nominates three Federal Reserve officials

Biden on Friday nominated Sarah Bloom Raskin to serve as Vice-Chairman for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system, and nominated Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system, according to a White House statement.

"Raskin is among the most qualified nominees ever for the position of Vice-Chairman for Supervision, while Jefferson and Cook are talented economists with decades of experience working on a broad range of economic issues," the US President said in a statement.

Raskin has served both as the Deputy Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury and as a Governor of the Federal Reserve Board. She also served as the Commissioner of Financial Regulation for the State of Maryland, Xinhua news agency reported.

Cook, currently a Professor of Economics and International Relations at Michigan State University, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, served at the White House Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama. She serves on the advisory boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Jefferson, Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty and the Paul B. Freeland Professor of Economics at Davidson College, serves on the Vassar College Board of Trustees, the Board of Advisors of the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. He is a past President of the National Economic Association.

In late November, Biden announced that he intended to nominate Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve Chairman and to nominate Lael Brainard, member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system, as Vice-Chairman.

Earlier in November 2021, Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles said he would resign from the central bank at the end of December, giving the Biden administration three open spots on the central bank's seven-seat Board of Governors. Federal Reserve Vice- Chairman Richard Clarida's term as Governor expires by end of January.

The seven-seat Board of Governors sets interest rate policy with the central bank's 12 regional bank Presidents, five of whom can vote on policy meeting. Regional bank Presidents rotate through their voting seats, but the New York Fed has a constant vote.