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Why does the White House want to take Yellen out of the Treasury?

Why does the White House want to take Yellen out of the Treasury?

According to Axios, the Biden administration is preparing to replace Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen after the mid-term elections. All the details

According to Axios exclusive disclosure, White House officials are preparing for the removal of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen from Joe Biden's administration, which could take place after the November 8 mid-term elections.

PROS AND CONS OF REPLACING YELLEN

The replacement of Yellen – the newspaper writes – would be part of a broader reorganization of the president's economic team. By doing so, Biden could respond to the perplexities of American public opinion about his management of the economy, but it could also create a political problem: he will have to indicate a successor and have it approved by the Senate, but it may not be easy if the Republican Party were to obtain control of the majority of the seats (to date the situation is equal to the Democrats).

Axios specifies that no decision has been made on the removal of Yellen or other members of the government cabinet: the sources say, however, that the woman's permanence in her role is linked to the outcome of the midterms .

THE OTHER NAMES IN THE BALANCE

Another name hanging in the balance is that of Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council (an advisory body to the president on economic matters), who could leave office in early 2023. His replacement could be Gene Sperling, who he is involved in the implementation of the American Rescue Plan (the $ 1900 billion economic stimulus bill) and who was former director of the Council during the Clinton and Obama administrations.

Cecilia Rouse, currently head of the Council of Economic Advisers, another agency within the US president's office, may also relinquish her position in the spring of 2023.

THE "PROBLEM" OF YELLEN

Janet Yellen, an economist with a PhD from Yale University and former president of the Federal Reserve (the American central bank), has challenged several economic measures of the White House, such as attacks on large companies for increasing inflation or cancellation of part of the student debt.

– Read also: Why does Yellen fear the EU embargo on Russian oil for the US?

The secretary also released statements that the Biden administration did not like. For example, a few months ago he admitted he was wrong about inflation; last year he spoke of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve as an "advantage."

On the other hand, Yellen is a highly respected figure internationally, both by the heads of central banks and by foreign finance ministers.

According to the Treasury Department spokesperson, however, Yellen has no plans to step down.

CONTRASTING NARRATIONS

According to a recent ABC News and Washington Post poll, Joe Biden's economic policy approval rating is 36 percent, and 57 percent of voters said they opposed his management.

High inflation and slow economic growth, in fact, are the issues on which the propaganda of the Republicans is pushing the most in view of the elections.

In contrast, the White House thinks "it has a convincing economic story to tell," writes Axios , and is leveraging the drop in the unemployment rate (to 3.7 percent) and the recovery in manufacturing activity.


This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/rimozione-janet-yellen-amministrazione-biden/ on Wed, 28 Sep 2022 10:10:55 +0000.