Biden says he will announce Treasury secretary pick close to Thanksgiving

by Sylvan Lane - 11/19/20 4:47 PM ET

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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks about the U.S. economy during a press briefing at the Queen Theater on November 16, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Mr. Biden and his advisors continue to work on the long term economic recovery plan his administration will try to put in place when he takes office.

President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that he has selected his nominee for Treasury secretary and will soon announce his pick, likely within the next week.

Biden told reporters during a Thursday press conference that his chosen candidate will appeal to progressive and moderate Democrats alike, and that he will name his choice either shortly before or right after Thanksgiving.

The former vice president has not yet announced any of his Cabinet nominations, and progressives have been closely watching his choice for Treasury as a litmus test for his financial and economic agenda.

While the Biden transition team has kept personnel picks close to the vest, several potential candidates with the backing of progressives and moderates have circulated among lobbyists and policymakers.

Federal Reserve board member Lael Brainard, the sole Democrat on the Fed board, is considered to be the front-runner for Treasury secretary. She served as Treasury undersecretary in the Obama administration and before that as economic adviser to former President Clinton.

Brainard has deep ties to the Democratic establishment and a track-record of fighting Fed regulatory rollbacks from within the central bank.

Other names that have circulated as potential picks include former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Fed Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson, former deputy Treasury secretary and Fed board member Sarah Bloom Raskin, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Ariel Investments co-CEO Mellody Hobson.

Progressives were hopeful before Election Day that a blue wave could give Biden a sturdy Democratic majority in the Senate to ease the path to confirmation for Warren or another liberal firebrand. But Biden is likely to find himself contending with a narrow Republican majority, forcing him to choose a nominee who could unify Democrats.