President Joe Biden is set to name Lael Brainard, the vice-chair of the US Federal Reserve, to be his top economic adviser, bringing the central bank’s second-in-command to the White House to serve as one of Washington’s top financial policymakers.
Brainard will become the next director of the National Economic Council, the main White House job co-ordinating economic policy across the US government, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday night. She will replace Brian Deese, who is departing the Biden administration after serving in the role for more than two years.
The White House and the Fed declined to comment. Brainard’s departure marks a rather abrupt exit from the US central bank’s leadership for the former Treasury under-secretary for international affairs. Although she has been on the board of governors at the Fed since 2014, she has only been vice-chair, a crucial leadership role, since May 2022.