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- President-elect Joe Biden is considering former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to join his Cabinet as Treasury secretary, according to a Bloomberg report.
- If nominated and confirmed, Yellen would become the first female Treasury secretary in US history.
- For the past few months, Yellen has been part of a circle of advisors that have consulted with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on economic matters.
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President-elect Joe Biden is considering former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as his potential Treasury secretary, according to a Bloomberg report.
The Bloomberg report stated that Yellen recently backed away from a speaking engagement due to her consideration for the role, according to individuals familiar with the situation.
Yellen is reportedly joining a shortlist that includes Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard and former Federal Reserve Vice Chair Roger Ferguson.
If nominated and confirmed, Yellen would become the first female Treasury secretary in US history. In February 2014, she made history in becoming the nation’s first female Chair of the Federal Reserve, replacing outgoing Chair Ben Bernanke.
She served as Chair of the Federal Reserve until February 2018, when she was replaced by Trump appointee Jerome Powell. Yellen decided to step down from the Federal Reserve Board once her chairmanship was over.
Biden has already launched his transition team and has named veteran Democratic aide Ron Klain as his future White House Chief of Staff.
On November 13, CNN reported that Biden was spending that day and the immediate weekend considering potential Cabinet nominees, with aides saying that no major announcements were in the pipeline in the short-term.
For months, Yellen has advised both Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on the state of the economy. She is currently a distinguished fellow in residence with the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution, the prominent Washington think tank, and is a strong proponent of additional stimulus measures to aid the current US economic recovery.
Yellen, who recently discussed with Reuters how a Biden presidency could tax carbon emissions, is likely to attract support from progressive Democratic lawmakers.
"There really is a new kind of recognition that you've got a society where capitalism is beginning to run amok and needs to be readjusted in order to make sure that what we're doing is sustainable and the benefits of growth are widely shared in ways they haven't been," Yellen said. "What I see is a growing recognition on both sides of the aisle that climate change is a very serious concern and that action needs to occur."