[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 150 (Monday, September 15, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6593-S6594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Nomination of Stephen Miran

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to President Trump's 
nomination of Stephen Miran to be a Governor of the Federal Reserve 
Board.
  The Federal Reserve is among the most important economic institutions 
in the world, let alone the United States. Simply put, it is authorized 
to create money and determine the cost of that money by setting 
interest rates, all with a goal of achieving maximum employment and 
stable prices. When its seven Board members have a degree of protection 
from political interference, then the Fed is better able to contribute 
to sound economic policy of the Nation. That is because they have 
freedom to make tough decisions that may not be favored by the White 
House but that are necessary to achieve the Fed's dual mandate.
  It is unfortunate that Dr. Miran demonstrated at his nomination 
hearing that he is a political partisan and that he will be President 
Trump's man at the Fed. As if to emphasize the point, Dr. Miran intends 
to perform this job while ``on leave'' from his current position as the 
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House. In other 
words, he will be keeping his job as the President's chief economic 
adviser while being able to vote on interest rates.
  An architect of President Trump's tariffs, which have stoked 
inflation and under which American families and businesses are 
suffering every single day, Dr. Miran will now have one foot in the Fed 
and the other foot in the White House. And someone with this record--
someone who has been a hardcore proponent of President Trump's policies 
that raise costs on everyday goods, that debase the value of the 
dollar, that are based on unconstitutional notions that Executive power 
has no limits--does not deserve a second job that comes with additional 
levers to damage the economy.
  So I will be voting no on Dr. Miran, based on his track record and 
qualifications. I will also be voting no because he will be making a 
mockery of the law by refusing to relinquish his White House job.
  The Federal Reserve Act says that ``the members of the Board shall 
devote their entire time to the business of the Board.'' This means, 
quite simply, that Dr. Miran should not and cannot have contact with 
the White House whatsoever while at the Fed. In other words, there must 
be very strong firewalls separating Dr. Miran's Fed duties from his 
White House duties.
  Those firewalls will not work for this President, who demands that 
his advisers serve his own personal interests, who demands total 
fealty, and who acts as if he is above the law. Those firewalls will 
not work for this Agency because President Trump is obsessed with 
browbeating the Fed into submission. He routinely demands that the Fed 
cut rates from 4.25 percent to 1 percent. He has tried to intimidate 
Chair Powell, a

[[Page S6594]]

Republican whom Trump first appointed, calling him a loser, stupid, 
corrupt, and incompetent, simply because he won't do exactly what 
President Trump wants.
  And traditional firewalls will not work for this nominee. As the 
President's chief economist, Dr. Miran will almost certainly pick up 
the phone if Trump calls. He will be reading Trump's social media 
posts. He has every incentive to do Trump's bidding so he can return to 
his White House job. And even in the unlikely event that Dr. Miran acts 
independently, then Trump will simply fire him from the Council of 
Economic Advisers.
  Most troubling, Dr. Miran has testified that he has received advice 
from White House lawyers blessing this arrangement. This kind of self-
certification is dubious at best, but Dr. Miran has failed to produce 
it. That is why I joined Ranking Member Warren and several of our 
Banking Committee colleagues in demanding that Dr. Miran share this 
analysis. And as is typical with this administration, he did not even 
respond to our request. Dr. Miran's stonewalling can only be read as a 
concession that this is a corrupt bargain.
  Critical questions remain unanswered because of Dr. Miran's contempt 
of the Banking Committee, his evasion of our questions, and his refusal 
to provide details about this fraught proposal to retain his White 
House job while at the Fed. He must be straightforward and honest about 
how he intends to do this job, and he must acknowledge the reality that 
the President will have enormous influence and leverage over him.
  We must have answers before the Senate votes on his nomination, which 
is minutes away, and we will not get those answers.
  I will also be voting no because Dr. Miran has shown exceptionally 
poor integrity in this confirmation process. He tweeted in 2023 that no 
person ``on the planet can go from highly political operative to 
politically neutral just because he or she gets a promotion. That's 
just not how human beings work.'' He said this during the Biden 
administration when a Fed Governor resigned to become an economic 
adviser to the President in the White House.
  Dr. Miran himself now wants to move between the Fed and the White 
House. Under Dr. Miran's own standard, he would need to violate the 
laws of physics to be capable of acting independently.
  Just last year, Dr. Miran wrote a 25-page paper proposing an overhaul 
of the structure and governance of the Fed. In that paper, he wrote 
that ``short-circuiting the revolving door between the Fed and the 
executive branch is critical to reducing the incentives for officials 
to act in the short-term political interests of the president.''
  Yet, he is now racing through this revolving door. He called for 
specific reforms to shut this revolving door. Those reforms include 
prohibiting any Governor from returning to the executive branch for 4 
years, removing the ``for cause'' removal protections for Governors, 
and the current President voluntarily refraining from removing any 
incumbent Board members or Reserve Bank leaders during his term.
  At his confirmation hearing, Dr. Miran didn't even try to stand by 
his proposal. He testified that this ``proposal was a package deal. It 
was a suite of checks and balances, and it's highly inappropriate to 
take one check or balance outside the context of the overall package.''
  However, Dr. Miran badly mischaracterized his own work. In his paper, 
Dr. Miran never said that these proposals were a ``package deal'' or 
that they must be implemented in an all-or-nothing manner. To the 
contrary, he wrote that this ``proposal can be implemented in a 
piecemeal fashion, one policy at a time, if legislatively easier.''
  Well, he has a chance to implement it one point at a time by simply 
resigning from the Council of Economic Advisers.
  This nominee is asking for the American people's trust to set the 
Nation's credit and monetary policy. By misleading the Banking 
Committee, which was deliberate, he has demonstrated that he cannot be 
trusted with this responsibility.
  Like so many of this administration's nominees, Dr. Miran knew that 
standing by his previous views would take him out of the running, so he 
disavowed them to avoid getting crosswise with President Trump, who 
wants to get his man confirmed to the Fed today, which happens to be 
the day before the Fed's next meeting to vote on interest rates.
  Trump's former economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the quiet part out 
loud on a podcast last week. He said:

       The bottom line is: Trump is going to take over the Fed.''

  Dr. Miran's appointment is a critical piece of Trump's hostile 
takeover, along with the attempted ouster of Governor Cook and the 
continued attacks on Chair Powell.
  When the Fed becomes controlled by Trump's yes-men, it won't speak 
with enough authority to achieve its mandate. Inflation will get out of 
control, higher prices will persist, and rates on credit cards, auto 
loans, and mortgages will go up. Americans will be asked to pay more to 
finance our Nation's enormous and growing public debt. This outcome is 
unacceptable while millions of Americans are struggling to cover 
increased costs on everyday expenses.
  I would like to close by quoting former Republican Senator Pat Toomey 
from Pennsylvania, a native of Rhode Island who ably served as the 
ranking member of the Banking Committee. In 2021, he spoke against one 
of President Biden's nominees to the Federal Reserve and said:

       ``The American people deserve a serious nominee who . . . 
     will serve without a political agenda. . . . It is 
     exceptionally important to keep politics out of monetary 
     policy.''

  Applying Senator Toomey's principles, Dr. Miran has not demonstrated 
his ability to ``serve without a political agenda.'' He has not 
demonstrated that he is a ``serious nominee,'' and he has not 
demonstrated that he ``will serve without a political agenda.'' 
Instead, he has demonstrated his loyalty to President Trump and 
essentially thumbed his nose at the Senate. He has already compromised 
his independence through his plan to hold on to his White House 
position.
  I urge my colleagues to vote against this nominee not only for the 
benefit of the Federal Reserve but for the integrity of the U.S. 
Senate.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. CASSIDY. I know of no further debate on the nomination.