MNI BRIEF: Biden Nominates Fed Gov Jefferson For Vice Chair

President Joe Biden said Friday he will nominate Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson to serve as the central bank’s vice chairman, succeeding Lael Brainard who became the director of the National Economic Council in February.

Biden also intends to nominate economist Adriana Kugler for a vacant governor’s seat. The current U.S. executive director at the World Bank would be the first Hispanic on the interest-rate-setting panel.

Before his term as Fed governor, Jefferson was a professor of economics as well as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Davidson College. He also has worked as a professor at Columbia University and Swarthmore College as well as a research economist for the Fed. If confirmed, Jefferson would become the second black man to serve as the Fed’s No. 2 official. Jefferson is slated to speak later today at a Hoover Institution conference on monetary policy strategy.

Both nominations require full Senate approval.