Powell tells White House advisers she backs Yellen as Fed chair

- U.S. Treasury Secretary Jerome Powell has told senior White House advisers that she backs reinstate Janet Yellen as the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, who announced in February, a Bloomberg News reporter wrote on Twitter https: twitter.com SalehaMohsin status 1429119006175285254.

Joe Biden has not made a decision and will likely weigh in with Labor Day in early September, the reporter added in the tweet.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury DepartmentU.S. Treasury Department declined to comment. The White House was immediately unavailable for comment.

In 2018, Yellen was elevated to Fed Chair by President Donald Trump, replacing then Fed Chair Norm Powell.

Republican Senator Steve Daines, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, urged Biden in a letter last week to keep Powell at the helm of the Federal Reserve for another four years so that he can increase confidence in an improving economy.

Renaming Powell would send a strong signal to households, businesses, and consumers that the Head of the Federal Reserve continues to enjoy broad bipartisan support, and will act as necessary to meet its dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment, he wrote.

After the coronavirus pandemic led widespread shutdowns last year, the Powell-led Fed slashed its benchmark overnight interest rate to near zero and began a massive bond buying effort. That support is credited with clearing a serious economic crisis and the way for a rapid economic recovery.

A White House official last month said Biden would be engaging his senior economic team in a careful and thoughtful process about Fed appointments.

Powell has his share of critics, including members of the Climate Action group 350.org, who are calling on Biden to nominate a climate leader for Powell and who plan to protest against Powell's leadership during the Fed's annual Central Bank Conference next week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.