Biden To Nominate Yellen As US Treasury Secretary
President-elect Joe Biden announced Monday he will nominate former Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, to lead the Treasury, topping a slate of economic officials who would break racial and gender barriers in the US government.
The rollout of Biden’s economic team comes after running mate Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, first Black person, and first person of South Asian descent to win the vice presidency.
If they win Senate approval, Yellen would be the first female Treasury secretary and would be joined in the executive branch by the first African Americans to serve as her deputy and as head of the White House economic council, as well as the first South Asian in a key budget role.
“We face great challenges as a country right now. To recover, we must restore the American dream — a society where each person can rise to their potential and dream even bigger for their children,” Yellen tweeted following the announcement.
“As Treasury Secretary, I will work every day towards rebuilding that dream for all.”
Job number one for the 74-year-old, who previously made history as the first female Federal Reserve chief from 2014 to 2018, will be helping the US economy recover from the sharp downturn in growth and mass layoffs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unless lawmakers are able to overcome their differences in the closing weeks of the year, she will likely be tasked with convincing Democrats and Republicans in Congress to pass another spending bill to power the recovery amid a months-long deadlock on new aid.
“As we get to work to control the virus, this is the team that will deliver immediate economic relief for the American people during this economic crisis and help us build our economy back better than ever,” Biden said in a statement announcing his appointments.
He has stressed that he would strive for diversity while choosing staff for when he takes office in January.
Biden has pushed ahead with naming his team despite Donald Trump’s continuing refusal to concede defeat and his unfounded claims of voter fraud that have been repeatedly rejected by courts.
Reality is, however, closing in step-by-step on Trump, and on Monday two more key states — Wisconsin and Arizona — certified their election results showing Biden won there.
The Electoral College is all but certain to formalize Biden’s nationwide victory when it meets on December 14.
