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By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday the appointment of close aide and longtime economic adviser Jared Bernstein to head the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) as part of a of a reorganization before the 2024 election campaign.
Bernstein, 68, is one of three chief economists on the board and has worked in Democratic administrations for decades. He frequently explains Biden’s politics on television, making him a familiar and safe choice given that he is up for confirmation by the US Senate.
Current president Cecilia Rouse will return to Princeton University in March after helping lead the US economy amid soaring inflation and record job growth.
Americans are unimpressed with the Biden administration’s economic performance as commodity prices and mortgage rates remain high.
Republicans are expected to question Bernstein during his confirmation hearing on inflation and Biden’s proposed multi-trillion-dollar tax.
Bernstein, who played in jazz bands and worked as a social worker in New York before earning a doctorate, has long supported progressive economic policies. He served in former President Bill Clinton’s Labor Department and then as Biden’s chief economist when he was vice president.
“THE POWER OF THE WORKERS”
While administration officials are sympathetic to the prospect of replacing Rouse, the first African American to head the CEA, with a white man, they point to the diversity of Biden’s team and his decision to appoint the Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Lael Brainard, head of the National Economic Council.
Alongside Brainard, Labor Department economist Joelle Gamble, a black woman, will be one of his assistants.
PPE president Heidi Shierholz said Bernstein had spent decades “fighting for workers’ power,” but the lack of diversity at CEA was a concern and reflected issues in the workplace. economy.
“It’s a big deal and you can see it with the Biden administration team, but I think Bernstein and Brainard are well positioned to support the agenda, which is about racial and economic justice.”
Progressive groups and labor unions support Bernstein, and his confirmation by a simple majority in the Democratic-controlled Senate is not in question, according to Senate aides.
At last week’s event, Bernstein called Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus package with big fiscal injections and an aggressive vaccination campaign a “success” that staved off deeper economic scars and create 12 million jobs. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing in Spanish by Javier Leira and Marion Giraldo)