President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is nominating economic adviser Stephen Miran to be a Federal Reserve governor, filling the position vacated by Adriana Kugler, who unexpectedly resigned last week.
Miran, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, “has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled — He will do an outstanding job,” Trump said in a post to Truth Social.
The term on the seven-member board for which Miran is being appointed expires at the beginning of 2026. Trump said the White House would look for a permanent replacement for him afterwards.
Miran received a doctorate in economics from Harvard University. Prior to joining the CEA, Miran worked as a senior strategist at Hudson Bay Capital and was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. He drew attention last year for writing a paper outlining a case for the aggressive use of tariffs to restructure the global trading system.
During Trump’s first term, Miran served as a senior adviser for economic policy at the Treasury Department under then-Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Miran was confirmed by the Senate to chair the CEA in a 53-46 vote earlier this year.
In a statement on Miran’s selection Thursday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the Senate banking committee chairman, said that he looks forward to “quickly considering his nomination in the Senate Banking Committee and hearing more about his plans to increase transparency and accountability at the Federal Reserve to ensure the agency prioritizes its mandate and avoids politics.”
Kugler, 55, first assumed office at the Fed board in 2023, and her term was set to expire in January 2026. She will return to Georgetown University as a professor in the fall, according to the Fed.
The opening, which came as a surprise, gave Trump the opportunity to fill the vacancy on the Fed board early. He has been strongly pushing for the Fed to cut interest rates, so his new pick’s thoughts on the matter were surely a major factor in the nomination.
Trump has has repeatedly admonished Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, in recent months. Kugler consistently voted with Powell and the majority of FOMC participants to keep rates steady this year.
Some in the Trump administration have pushed the president to fire Powell, although the move would be legally dubious and would certainly get tied up in the courts. But Powell’s term as chairman is up next year, making it more likely that Trump will wait it out to nominate a replacement.
But it is worth noting that interest rates won’t just go down right away when Trump appoints someone new. That is because interest rate decisions come down to a majority vote of the 12-member FOMC.
FED GOVERNOR ADRIANA KUGLER UNEXPECTEDLY RESIGNS, GIVING TRUMP OPENING FOR PICK
During the last FOMC meeting in July, Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller preferred a rate cut and dissented. That marked the first time two governors have dissented since 1993.
As of this week, reports indicate that there are four names circulating as possible successors to Powell: National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, Waller, and Bowman.
