WASHINGTON, May 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump’s latest choice
to become a member of the Federal Reserve board withdrew from consideration
on Thursday, his fourth pick to fail to make it through the process.
Conservative economic commentator Stephen Moore had faced mounting
criticism over his qualifications and past comments.
The withdrawal suggested the president is facing difficulty in installing
loyalists at the central bank.
“Steve Moore, a great pro-growth economist and a truly fine person, has
decided to withdraw from the Fed process,” Trump said on Twitter, moments
after Moore told Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal that he would stay in
the race.
Another candidate, businessman and long-shot presidential candidate Herman
Cain, last week pulled out of the process to fill one of two remaining
openings on the central bank board.
Trump has repeatedly ignored norms designed to protect the independent Fed
from political influence, which could undermine its credibility, lambasting
the central bank for raising interest rates and even this week calling for a
drastic cut.
In that atmosphere, his nominations of Moore and Cain were viewed by some
as an attempt to bring pressure from the inside. They also were criticized
for their lack of qualifications, including by Republicans in the Senate.
Five of the 53 Republicans in the 100-member chamber told AFP there were
serious problems with Moore’s candidacy.
Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa hardened her opposition after the emergence of
articles and speeches by Moore over the years, some of which have been
criticized as sexist or trafficking in racism.
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said Moore never should have been
considered.
“First, Cain. Now, Moore. Thank goodness neither were actually nominated,”
Schumer said in a statement.
“The only thing less funny than some of Mr. Moore’s tasteless, offensive,
sexist ‘jokes’ was the idea that President Trump would even consider him for
a seat on the Federal Reserve.”
– ‘Economic malpractice’ –
Moore, a 59-year-old economic and political commentator, advised Trump
when he was running for president and has publicly expressed his opposition
to raising interest rates, calling the last hike in December “economic
malpractice.”
He gave two interviews published within an hour of Trump’s tweet to say
that he was staying in the race despite the criticism and that a White House
official had encouraged him to remain.
“I sure am,” Moore told Bloomberg when asked if he would persist in
seeking a Fed seat. “I’m not too concerned about this.”
However, in those interviews he also disagreed with Trump’s call to cut
the benchmark lending rate by a full point.
He recently had tried to walk back some of his comments about women, such
as complaints that women’s wage gains could pose a danger to families by
outpacing those of men.
In a letter informing Trump of his withdrawal, Moore defended the economic
policies that he championed but decried the withering criticism he faced.
“Trumponomics has been VINDICATED,” Moore stated.
However, the “unrelenting attacks on my character have become untenable
for me and my family and 3 more months of this would be too hard on us.”
Trump said on Twitter he had asked Moore “to work with me toward future
economic growth in our Country.”
The Fed has a seven-member board but has had openings for many months.
Former Fed staffer Nellie Liang, another Trump nominee for the Fed,
dropped out in January while economist Marvin Goodfriend’s nomination died in
the Senate last year and was not resubmitted.
But Trump has named three current Fed members to the board, including Vice
Chairman Richard Clarida, and also promoted Jerome Powell to his current post
as board chairman.
Moore in December called on Trump to fire Powell for “wrecking the
economy.”
But in a news conference on Wednesday, Powell once again defended the
central bank’s independence.
“We don’t think about short term political considerations, we don’t
discuss them and we don’t consider them in making our decisions one way or
the other,” Powell said.