Trump’s Fed picks Shelton, Waller may see smooth sailing to Powell’s central bank

Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller, both of whom were picked by President Trump last summer to join the Federal Reserve, may see smooth sailing to the central bank to join Chairman Jerome Powell.

On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee approved the two; Shelton by a narrow party-line vote of 13-12 while Waller was confirmed 18-7. They now go to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

If approved, Shelton, the more controversial of the two, will be a welcome breath of fresh air, says Trump economic adviser Steve Moore.

“There’s nobody better,” said Moore during an interview on FOX Business following the vote. “She is so needed on that Federal Reserve, now does she have some opinions that conflict with maybe what Chairman Powell and some of the others think, absolutely she does, that’s why she is needed...they need someone who doesn’t drink all the Kool-Aid there.”

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Shelton has advocated for the gold standard, which links currency directly to gold, and was also a "founding member of Empower America and a staff economist for the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform chaired by Jack Kemp from 1995 to 1996,” according to her bio. If confirmed, she will fill out the remainder of a 14-year term expiring Jan. 31, 2024.

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As for Waller, he is currently at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and holds the position of executive vice president and director of research, the White House notes. His 14-year term will expire Jan. 31, 2030.

Since the two were nominated by Trump a year ago his disdain of the Fed and Powell has done a 360, with the president now praising the Fed head for his economic leadership during the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.

“I would say that I was not happy with him at the beginning and I am getting more and more happy with him. I think he stepped up to the plate. He’s done a good job," said Trump during an exclusive interview with FOX Business' Blake Burman in early July.  "He’s had to liquefy a little bit -- let us liquefy -- the economy – put out the money that you needed, and I would say over the last period of six months he’s really stepped up to the plate," Trump stated.

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Powell, faced with a total, never-before-seen shutdown of the American economy amid the fast-moving coronavirus, guided policymakers in cutting interest rates to near-zero while also instituting other measures to shore up liquidity for financial markets and Main Street lending.

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As policymakers worked to triage the U.S. economy, a massive selloff in financial markets drove U.S. stocks to annual lows in March and has put over 50 million Americans out of work since the shutdown began.

With the crisis far from over, Powell has indicated rates will likely stay at current levels until the American economy recovers from the pandemic fallout.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	19403.947849	+185.78	+0.97%
SP500	S&P 500	6047.15	+14.77	+0.24%
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	44782	-128.65	-0.29%

U.S. stocks, a forward indicator, are clawing back from the March lows. The Nasdaq has hit a new record, while the S&P 500 is about 3 percent away from its and the Dow Jones Industrial Average roughly 9 percent.

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 FOX Business’ Jennifer Schonberger contributed to this report.