Biden taps Philip Jefferson to be Fed's vice chair, Kugler as first Hispanic on Fed board

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has nominated Philip Jefferson, a member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, to serve as vice chair of the board, the White House announced Friday.

The two nominations arrive as the Fed is grappling with an increasingly fraught economy marked by rising interest rates, still-high inflation and a shaky banking system. Since March 2022, the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate 10 times, to the highest level in 16 years, to combat high inflation. After a policy meeting last week, Chair Jerome Powell signaled that the Fed may now pause its rate increases.