Biden says he's decided on treasury secretary nomination

President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that he has decided whom to minate as his secretary of Treasury Department.

Biden said that anuncement will come just before or after Thanksgiving and that “you’ll find it is someone who I think will be accepted by all elements of Democratic Party, progressives through moderate coalition.”

leing candidates are thought to be former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Goverr Lael Brainard. Eir would be first woman to serve as treasury secretary. Yellen's name has surfaced more frequently in recent days as potential minee. Yellen was also first woman to chair Fed, a position she held for four years.

Also mentioned as possible candidates are former Fed vice chair Roger Ferguson and Raphael Bostic, president of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Both Bostic and Ferguson are Black, and eir would be first Black treasury secretary. Bostic is also first openly gay president of a regional Fed bank.

Many progressives believe Yellen was mistreated by President Donald Trump, who broke with recent precedent and declined to reappoint her as Fed chair. Yellen's two immediate predecessors, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan, were both reappointed by Democratic presidents, after being first appointed by Republicans, as a gesture toward npartisan nature of Fed.

Brainard also vised President Bill Clinton and was floated as a potential treasury secretary if Hillary Clinton h won 2016 election. She has been a leing voice for lower interest rates at Fed and has also been a consistent vote against Fed's moves in past two years to loosen bank regulations.

Jeff Hauser, executive director of Revolving Door Project, a left-leaning organization, said progressives would prefer to see Yellen or Bostic. Yellen is an expert on unemployment, an vant given still-elevated national unemployment rate of 6.9% during coronavirus pandemic.

She has also engd this year on issue of climate change and has endorsed a carbon tax as a way to reduce emission of greenhouse gases.

Yellen was an ecomic viser to Biden's campaign. As a former Fed chair, she is also a familiar figure to Wall Street, which closely follows treasury secretary's remarks.

Biden spoke to reporters after participating in a video conference with a group of goverrs from both parties, telling m he wanted to be ir partner in White House. goverrs talked about need for government officials to be clear with Americans about what to expect as virus surges. He says, “y all ackwledge this is going to take a massive education campaign.”

Biden’s treasury secretary would le his ecomic team as many businesses and Americans struggle while pandemic continues.

(Im Credit: AP)