Herman Cain anticipates lengthy confirmation process if nominated to Fed board
Herman Cain, President Trump’s newest candidate to join the Federal Reserve board, ruminated in a video posted to Facebook Friday evening about the potential nomination, cautioning about what he believed would likely be a lengthy and “cumbersome” vetting process.
“They have to collect an inordinate amount of information on you, your background, your family, your friends, your animals, your pets, for the last 50 years,” he said in the video.
Conducting a background check, Cain added, would be lengthier and “more cumbersome” in his case because of his "unique" career trajectory.
On Thursday, Trump confirmed that he’s recommending Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate, to the Fed’s board. Cain previously served multiple positions within the Kansas City Federal Reserve between 1989 and 1996.
But nominating Cain, the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, to the board also raises the possibility of Capitol Hill testimonies regarding sexual harassment allegations against Cain, which ultimately derailed his 2011 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Cain has denied the claims, most of which dated from the 1990s and involved employees or former employees of the pizza chain, the New York Times reported.
In the video, however, Cain railed against those same accusations, which he lambasted as a political hit-job.
“You better believe that the people who hate me -- the people who do not like conservatives and Republicans -- are already digging up all the negative stuff that’s in storage from eight years ago,” he said. “So be it. Let them go back and dig up eight year old stuff. I will be able to explain it this time, where they wouldn’t let me explain it last time because they were too busy believing the accusers. I’m not mad though. I’m just not going to let the accusers run my life or determine my career.”
Cain acknowledged that he might not make it through the nomination process.
“Would I be disappointed if I don’t make it through this process?” he said. “No. Would I be thrilled and honored if I make it through this process? That’s the bottom line.”
Trump has been a sharp critic of the interest rate policy set by the Federal Reserve, repeatedly blaming the U.S. central bank and its chair, Jerome Powell, for slowing down the economy, despite the Fed recently saying that it foresees no rate hikes in the year ahead.
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At the end of March, Trump said he would appoint Stephen Moore, a conservative economic analyst and frequent Fed critic, to the board. The White House, however, has not sent the nomination to the Senate.
If nominated and approved, Moore and Cain would fill the two remaining vacancies on the Fed’s seven-member board.