Trump nominates former Fed economist to central bank’s board

President Trump has nominated economist and former Federal Reserve director Nellie Liang to be a member of the central bank’s board of governors, the White House announced Wednesday.

Liang, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, is the former director of the Fed’s division of financial stability, a branch tasked with discovering and mitigating risks to the financial sector. The division was opened in 2010 in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, and Liang was chosen to be its first director.

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Liang is also a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund and a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Economic Advisors. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in economics and earned a Ph.D in economics from the University of Maryland.

If confirmed, Liang would be Trump’s third addition to the Fed board. The Senate confirmed Fed Vice Chairman of Supervision Randal Quarles in October and Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida in September. Trump also elevated Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to the board’s top spot in 2017, declining to renominate former Chair Janet Yellen.

Trump also has two Fed nominees currently pending before the Senate, one of which is likely to be confirmed. The Senate is expected to clear Michelle Bowman’s nomination to the Fed board by the end of the year, while Trump’s nomination of Marvin Goodfriend appears to be doomed by opposition from conservatives.