WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Monday unveiled his economic team, nominating Janet Yellen, former Federal Reserve chair, to lead the Treasury Department.
If confirmed by the Senate, Yellen would be the first woman to serve as U.S. treasury secretary in the department's 231 years of history. She would also be the first person to have served as treasury secretary, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and chair of the Federal Reserve.
"She led the country out of the 2008 financial crisis, and she would do the same in the Biden Administration to guide us through this economic crisis," Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said earlier.
President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde is among those who congratulated Yellen's nomination.
"Her intelligence, tenacity and calm approach make Janet a trailblazer for women everywhere," Lagarde wrote in a tweet shortly after the announcement. "I look forward to tackling yet again the global economic challenges we are facing, together."
Biden selected Neera Tanden, who currently serves as president & CEO of the Center for American Progress, as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and named Cecilia Rouse, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, to lead the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
The two selections also will make history, as Tanden would be the first woman of color and first South Asian American to lead the OMB, and Rouse would become the first African American woman to lead the Council of Economic Advisers.
The nomination of Tanden sparked controversy among Republicans. A spokesperson for Senator John Cornyn said Sunday that Biden's reported pick to head the OMB has "no chance" of being confirmed by the Senate if Republicans remain in control next year.
"Neera Tanden, who has an endless stream of disparaging comments about the Republican Senators' whose votes she'll need, stands zero chance of being confirmed," the senator's spokesman Drew Brandewie wrote in a tweet.
A nominee would need 51 out of the 100 votes in the Senate to be confirmed. Democrats flipped one net seat in general elections and currently control 48 seats in the Senate, while Republicans have won 50 seats. Two seats are still up for grabs in Georgia as the state's Senate elections head to runoffs in January.
Biden also selected Wally Adeyemo, president of the Obama Foundation, as deputy secretary of the Treasury. If confirmed, Adeyemo would be the first Black deputy secretary of the Treasury.
Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey were appointed as members of the Council of Economic Advisers. Bernstein served as chief economist to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama-Biden Administration before joining the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Boushey is a long-time economic counselor to Biden and currently serves as president & CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.
In a statement, Biden said he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have chosen an "accomplished, crisis-tested team, made up of historic trailblazers and representing a broad diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences."
The president-elect said the economic team "will get to work on day one to build our economy back better - and ensure that every single American is in on the deal."
Also on Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 152,608 new cases were confirmed nationwide Sunday, the 22nd consecutive day that the daily case count had surpassed 100,000. Experts have warned of a further surge in cases after widespread Thanksgiving travel.
"The rise in new COVID-19 cases, both here and abroad, is concerning and could prove challenging for the next few months," said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. "A full economic recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it is safe to reengage in a broad range of activities." Enditem
