“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name former Obama administration adviser Neera Tanden as director of the White House budget office, and economist Cecilia Rouse as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers as soon as Monday, according to a person familiar with the process. Biden is also expected to pick Wally Adeyemo, who was senior international economic adviser under President Barack Obama, to serve as Janet Yellen’s top deputy at the Treasury Department. Economists Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey are expected to be named as members of the Council of Economic Advisers, the person said. Biden picked Brian Deese, another adviser under Obama, to head the White House National Economic Council, the New York Times reported, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. Biden’s transition team declined to comment, while Tanden, Rouse, Adeyemo, Bernstein, Boushey and Deese could not be reached for comment. Biden’s economic picks have been the subject of a tug-of-war between Democratic centrists, who mainly want a return to expertise and competence, and progressives, who want dramatic steps to fulfill a key Democratic campaign promise to make U.S. capitalism fairer for all. The nominations of Tanden, Rouse and Adeyemo require Senate confirmation. Just like in 2009 with Obama, whom Biden served as vice president, the incoming administration will inherit on Jan. 20 a struggling economy facing serious near-term challenges. But this time, the economic blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare dramatic wealth and racial disparities that progressives want Biden’s team to tackle swiftly. They have leaned hard on him to shun corporate lobbyists and prioritize diverse picks. The economic selections so far represent “broad diversity, deep expertise, long Washington experience,” said Matt Bennett, co-founder of centrist Democratic political consultancy Third Way, and “a return to competence and sanity.” They are “not deeply ideological,” he said. The appointment of Tanden, who heads the Center for American Progress left-leaning think tank, is likely to draw some criticism from the left. Tanden, who was a healthcare adviser to Obama and before that an adviser to Democrat Hillary Clinton, sparred with the progressive camp over the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. FOCUS ON INEQUALITY Rouse, a labor economist at Princeton University whose research has focused on the economics of education and tackling wealth inequality, is well-liked by progressives. She previously served as a member of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. Rouse has criticized the Trump administration’s economic response to the pandemic, noting in an April Princeton University podcast that small-business aid had fallen short. She also spoke in favor of more direct aid to workers through their employers, and expressed concern about the impact the pandemic would have on worsening income disparity. Adeyemo was a senior White House national security adviser for international economics during the Obama administration, as well as a top aide to former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. He is currently president of the Obama Foundation. Bernstein served as Biden’s chief economic adviser as the Obama administration fought to pull the United States out of the Great Recession. He was tasked here with calculating and explaining how many jobs Obama’s hard-fought recovery act saved in 2009, and was widely expected to have a similarly prominent role in a Biden administration. Boushey is known for research focusing on how inequality can hinder economic growth. The chief executive and co-founder of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a progressive economic think tank, Boushey has been working with the Biden team as an unofficial economic adviser. Nearly 14 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits that expire on Dec. 26, and the coronavirus’ continued surge means there is no telling when they might be able to go back to work. Biden’s economic agenda is likely to focus on getting the country past the coronavirus crisis, both as a health and economic issue. A lot will depend on passage of a pandemic relief package and the distribution of a vaccine that is expected in early 2021. After that will follow what Bernstein described before the election as the “more permanent lasting agenda” of investments in clean energy and broadening healthcare coverage. Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Heather Timmons and Valerie Volcovici; Additional reporting by Jonelle Marte in New York, Heather Jason Lange in Washington, and Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft and Peter Cooney
Biden Selects Marcia Fudge As Housing Secretary, Tom Vilsack For Agriculture
88 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["WASHINGTON (美联社) — President-elect Joe Biden has selected Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his housing and urban development secretary and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration,...
Trump Trade Adviser Violated Hatch Act With Biden Attacks, Watchdog Says
42 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["White House trade adviser Peter Navarro repeatedly violated a federal law that prohibits some members of the federal government from engaging in political activity, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel reported Monday...
Biden To Tap Rochelle Walensky To Lead CDC: Reports
84 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["President-elect Joe Biden plans to tap Rochelle Walensky, the head of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, as his incoming director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Politico and R...
Trump’s Parting Gift To Biden: An Even Worse Catastrophe In Yemen
72 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["Video credit: Skye Fitzgerald, director, Spin Film As one of its final foreign policy acts in office, the Trump administration could take a step that would push millions of people in Yemen into starvation and prolon...
Biden Predicts ‘Bleak Future’ If Congress Doesn’t Act On COVID-19 Aid
243 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["WILMINGTON, Del. (美联社) — President-elect Joe Biden is predicting a “bleak future” if Congress doesn’t take speedy action on a coronavirus aid bill amid a nationwide spike in the virus that’s hampering the country’s e...
Biden Hints At A Mostly Virtual Inauguration Ceremony: ‘The Key Is Keeping People Safe’
227 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["President-elect Joe Biden — who received the most votes in presidential election history — may also end up having the quietest inauguration in recent memory. Biden hinted at a toned-down ceremony devoid of the usua...
Biden Says He Hopes Trump Attends Inauguration To Show ‘Chaos’ Is Over
101 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday he hoped President Donald Trump would attend his inauguration next month, at the very least to demonstrate to Americans that the country had moved beyond the “chaos that he’s ...
Trump To Sell Arctic Refuge Oil Leases 2 Weeks Before Biden Inauguration
103 观看次数0 评论0 喜欢
["U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP Caribou migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. The Trump administration will sell off rights to drill for oil in Alaska’s pri...