Trump to nominate economic advisor Stephen Miran to be new Fed governor, replacing Kugler

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he has selected Stephen Miran, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, to a pivotal seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, replacing Adriana Kugler, who resigned Friday.

The nominee will serve out Kugler’s term, which expires Jan. 31, 2026.

“In the meantime, we will continue to search for a permanent replacement,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, indicating that the nominee for the full 14-year term on the board could be someone else and Miran may just be in a caretaker role.

“He has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled — He will do an outstanding job,” Trump added. “Congratulations Stephen!”

In addition to the Kugler vacancy, which officially takes effect Friday, current Chair Jerome Powell’s term expires in May. Likely candidates for that position include current Governor Christopher Waller as well as former Governor Kevin Warsh and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett.

Miran’s appointment comes amid continuing speculation that Trump would seek to nominate a “shadow chair” whose job it would be mainly to act as a gadfly on the board. Trump said Wednesday that the nominee for the Kugler seat would be temporary rather than a permanent replacement for Powell.

The president has been pushing for sharply lower interest rates. Miran is a past critic of the Fed, specifically its aggressive stimulus actions during the Covid crisis.

In addition, he is an author of the controversial “Mar-A-Lago Accord,” a plan to devalue the dollar as a way of managing the current account deficit problem for the U.S. He was critical of previous Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s decision to purchase short-term Treasurys as a way to manage the national debt.

“By selecting Miran, Trump has made a stop-gap appointment and given himself until January to make the main call,” Marco Casiraghi, senior economist and strategist at Evercore ISI, said in a note. “This way Trump did not tie his hands, keeping his options open regarding the choice of the new Fed governor and especially the new Fed chair.”

Miran still needs Senate confirmation to the seven-person board, something unlikely to happen until the upper house reconvenes in September. The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, of which he would be a permanent voting member, meets next Sept. 16-17. Markets widely expect the committee to approve its first cut since December 2024.

With a vote likely weeks away on the nomination, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (S.C.) in a statement praised Miran as “an accomplished economist” who “has been instrumental in advising on economic policy and advancing a pro-growth agenda in his role as CEA Chair.”

Scott, who has been critical of the Fed’s expansion project at two of its Washington buildings, added that he looked forward to “hearing more about his plans to increase transparency and accountability at the Federal Reserve to ensure the agency prioritizes its mandate and avoids politics.”

Prior to serving in the first Trump White House as senior advisor for economic policy under then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Miran was senior strategist at Hudson Bay Capital Management and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

While at Treasury, he played a key role in developing the Paycheck Protection Program following the Covid economic shutdown in 2020. He has since spoke in favor of reciprocal tariffs, which Trump has used extensively this year as part of a global trade war, and he also has been strongly pro-crypto.

In addition to voting on interest rates, Miran’s role as governor would include financial regulation.

However, his most pressing role between confirmation and January could be as an antagonist to Powell.

Trump has fiercely criticized the central bank chief, calling him a barrage of names, requesting his resignation and even mulling the legally questionable possibility of firing him. Current Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the past has advocated for a shadow chair, reasoning that even if the Fed does not meet the administration’s demands, Powell’s positions could be counteracted by a dissenting voice on the board who would voice the White House’s positions on monetary policy.

At last week’s FOMC meeting, two governors — Trump appointees Waller and Michelle Bowman — dissented from the decision to hold the overnight funds rate steady. It was the first time multiple governors voted against a rates decision in more than 30 years.