President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he plans to nominate Stephen Miran, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a vacant Federal Reserve Board seat until January 31, 2026. The position also grants Miran a vote on the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee, which determines U.S. interest rate policy.
The move follows the early resignation of Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, whose term was set to expire in January. Kugler, appointed by President Biden, will step down Friday to return to teaching at Georgetown University. “It is my Great Honor to announce that I have chosen Dr. Stephen Miran… to serve in the just vacated seat on the Federal Reserve Board until January 31, 2026,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that the administration will continue searching for a permanent nominee. Shortly after the news, the U.S. dollar index erased its daily gains and fell.
Kugler had recently joined the majority of Fed policymakers in voting to hold interest rates steady amid uncertainty tied to Trump’s global tariffs and inflation levels that remain above the Fed’s 2% target. If confirmed, Miran would be Trump’s third pick for the Fed Board, joining Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman. Although Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell and pressured him to lower rates, Bowman’s policy approach has generally aligned more closely with the administration’s goals.
Miran is known for his role in shaping Trump’s trade policies. In a November paper, he argued that large trade deficits harm U.S. manufacturing and benefit countries like China, proposing broad tariffs to shrink those gaps—while acknowledging such measures could create market instability. He also suggested that narrowing trade deficits might require a weaker U.S. dollar, potentially through coordination with allies or the Fed itself, raising questions about his independence as a future Fed official.
In 2024, Miran co-authored a paper sharply critical of the central bank, questioning whether it had upheld best practices for independence. He wrote that a central bank must be free from short-term political pressures to be effective and called for reforms to strengthen its governance. Many of those points echo Trump’s recent attacks on the Fed.
Speculation about Trump’s relationship with the Fed has unsettled markets, with some fearing he might attempt to remove Powell. Legally, a Fed chair can only be dismissed “for cause.” Recent attention on cost overruns in the renovation of the Fed’s headquarters has added to political tensions, though Powell has said there was nothing improper about the project.
Vice Chair Bowman, confirmed in June after serving as Kansas’s chief bank regulator, has prioritized easing regulations on large financial institutions, arguing that prior rules were overly burdensome. Both she and Powell have repeatedly stressed the importance of the Fed’s independence in safeguarding economic stability. “It’s very important… that we maintain our independence with respect to monetary policy,” Bowman told CNBC in June. Powell echoed that sentiment at a recent press conference, saying the arrangement has “served the public well” and should continue.
