Trump’s Fed Pick Clears Hurdle Before Critical Meeting On Interest Rates

The Senate voted to cut off debate on chief White House economist Stephen Miran’s nomination to serve on the Federal Reserve Board on Monday evening in a near party-line vote, teeing his confirmation up for a vote on final passage.

Senators voted 50 to 44 to confirm Miran to an open seat vacated by Biden-appointed Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, who resigned in August before her term was set to end on Jan. 31, 2026. Miran’s swift confirmation will allow him to participate in the Fed’s mid-September gathering on interest rates that begins on Tuesday.

Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only GOP senator to vote against ending debate on Miran’s nomination, joining all Democrats who voted.

Miran’s ascension to the Fed’s board of governors will also give him a vote on the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets U.S. interest rates. The FOMC is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point in part due to concerns about a weakening labor market, marking the first time the committee reduced rates since last December.

President Trump has repeatedly called on the Fed to aggressively lower interest rates, invoking the potentially beneficial effect on the housing market in a Truth Social post on Monday. Fed chair Jerome Powell has thus far been mostlyunwilling to cut rates, earning the ire of Trump and GOP lawmakers who have asked for his resignation.