White House prepares for Trump to nominate Miran to Fed

White House officials are preparing for President Donald Trump to nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve as a Federal Reserve governor, according to a person familiar with the search.

Trump said Wednesday he would likely nominate a temporary governor to fill the seat, rather than a successor-in-waiting for Chair Jerome Powell, who he has heavily criticized over monetary policy. Miran, if nominated and approved by the Senate, is only expected to serve a term that expires in January, according to the person, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Fed Governor Adriana Kugler announced last week that she plans to vacate her role on Friday.

The White House stressed that a decision was not final until formally announced by Trump.

“President Trump will continue to nominate the most competent and experienced individuals,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. “Unless it comes from President Trump himself, however, any discussion about personnel decisions should be regarded as pure speculation.”

The Council of Economic Advisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Miran has been critical of the Fed’s track record in recent years. In a March 2024 paper, Miran and Dan Katz, now chief of staff at the Treasury Department, laid out a 24-page plan for reforming the Fed that blames policy errors at the central bank on “groupthink.” It also takes the Fed to task for having expanded into political areas that are beyond its remit.

“The Federal Reserve’s record in recent years raises questions about whether it has been operating in line with the best practices of central bank independence,” Miran and Katz wrote.

They called for the separation of monetary policy from banking regulation and supervision at the Fed by stripping the board of its authority over the latter. The change — which would require legislative action — would “avoid unnecessarily polluting the monetary-policy process,” they wrote.