Lael Brainard: 5 Things to Know About Biden's Top Economic Adviser

President Joe Biden named Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard as his top economic aide, plucking away one of the central bank’s more dovish voices and creating a vacancy as it works to quash inflation.

Biden also announced appointments of other economic aides, including elevating Jared Bernstein as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, on which he already serves. The president also announced expanded or new roles for Bharat Ramamurti, Heather Boushey and Joelle Gamble, remaking his economic team while retaining familiar faces as he prepares for an expected reelection bid.

Brainard’s ascension to director of the National Economic Council vaults her firmly into the close orbit of Biden’s most senior advisers, succeeding Brian Deese, who announced his departure earlier this month.

Brainard, 61, “brings an extraordinary depth of domestic and international economic expertise,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday. “She is a trusted veteran across our economic institutions, and understands how the economy affects everyday people.”

In a statement, the Fed said Brainard submitted her resignation Tuesday, and that it will be effective on or around Feb. 20.

As Bernstein takes the helm of the CEA, Biden announced that Boushey will remain on the council while also taking on the role of chief economist to Biden’s “Invest in America Cabinet,” a sub-cabinet group announced last month of major secretaries who focus on domestic investment and development.

Ramamurti will stay on as deputy NEC director, a role he held under Deese, while also becoming an adviser for strategic economic communications. Gamble, the Department of Labor’s chief economist, was named as a second deputy NEC director, focusing on manufacturing and industrial strategy.

Brainard’s move to the White House creates an opening at the Fed. It’s not clear who Biden will nominate to succeed her, or when he will make that decision.

Brainard is the second woman to lead the NEC and joins Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as a former top Fed official in the administration. They will assume prominent roles as the administration pivots its focus to implementing laws like the Inflation Reduction Act passed during the president’s first two years in office.

Brainard — a one-time candidate for Fed Chair and Treasury secretary — has been considered one of the central bank’s most dovish members. She has indicated the Fed may be able to hit its target of quashing inflation without widespread damage in the labor market, an outcome Biden has regularly expressed hope for publicly.

Brainard has been vice chair since May 2022, following a relatively smooth confirmation process and Senate vote that included support from seven Republicans.

She was nominated as a Fed governor in 2014 by President Barack Obama, and was a deputy director of the NEC under President Bill Clinton.

Between 2001 and 2009, Brainard was a senior fellow and then a vice president at the Brookings Institution in Washington. She taught applied economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 1990s.

Bernstein is a long-time Biden aide and CEA member, who will take over following the departure of the current chair, Cecilia Rouse. Rouse told MSNBC on Tuesday that she still intends to return to Princeton University this spring.

Biden praised Rouse and Deese, saying the country “owes them a debt of gratitude for their service.”

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