Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Biden to introduce top economic advisers as pandemic threat worsens

Published 12/01/2020, 01:07 AM
Updated 12/01/2020, 01:10 AM
© Reuters. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden delivers pre-Thanksgiving speech at transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware

© Reuters. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden delivers pre-Thanksgiving speech at transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware

By Jarrett Renshaw and Joseph Ax

WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will formally introduce his top economic policy advisers on Tuesday as his administration prepares to take power amid a slowing economic recovery hampered by the resurgent coronavirus pandemic.

Biden will appear at an event in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, alongside his selections for senior roles, including his nominee for U.S. Treasury secretary, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

The team's makeup reinforces Biden's view that a more aggressive approach to the pandemic is required. The advisers have all expressed support for government stimulus to maximize employment, reduce economic inequality and help women and minorities, who have been disproportionately hurt by the economic downturn.

Other picks include Cecilia Rouse, an economist at Princeton University, as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; economists Heather Boushey and Jared Bernstein as council members; and Neera Tanden, chief executive of the liberal Center for American Progress think tank, as head of the Office of Management and Budget.

The transition to a Biden administration has proceeded despite Republican President Donald Trump's false claims that he lost the election as a result of voter fraud. On Monday, Biden received his first full classified intelligence briefing since winning the Nov. 3 election, after Trump's refusal to concede delayed the formal transition process for weeks.

Arizona and Wisconsin, two battleground states where Trump has pursued fruitless efforts to overturn the results, each certified Biden's victory on Monday.

The certification of vote totals is typically a formality, but the process took on added significance amid Trump's baseless allegations.

Trump has pursued a series of legal challenges in numerous states, although none has thus far resulted in any meaningful gains for the president. Most of the lawsuits have been rejected by judges, who have expressed skepticism about the claim that the election results are illegitimate.

The Electoral College, which selects the presidential winner based on state-by-state results, is scheduled to meet on Dec. 14. Biden, the Democratic former vice president, will take office on Jan. 20.

FIRSTS FOR WOMEN

Biden's latest nominations would place several women in top economic roles, reflecting his commitment to increasing diversity at the highest levels of the federal government.

Rouse would be the first Black woman to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, which advises the president on economic policy; Tanden would be the first woman of color to run the OMB; and Yellen would be the first female Treasury secretary.

All three would require Senate confirmation. Several Republicans, who currently hold a narrow majority in the chmaber, expressed immediate opposition to Tanden, a divisive figure who has detractors both on the right and the left.

Control of the Senate will be decided in a pair of runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5.

Several aid programs aimed at combating the pandemic's economic damage, such as expanded unemployment benefits, are set to expire this month, and a new stimulus bill has been trapped in political limbo for months with Republicans and Democrats at odds over the size of the spending package.

© Reuters. U.S. President-elect Joe Biden delivers pre-Thanksgiving speech at transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 267,000 people in the United States, with nationwide cases and hospitalizations reaching record highs in recent weeks.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.