President-elect Joe Biden has reportedly selected Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to be Treasury Secretary, a move that could be historic if she is confirmed by the Senate in January.
The 74-year-old is seen by many as the “safe” choice and will likely not have any issues with the Senate Republicans to get the job. If she is confirmed, she would be the first woman to ever be Treasury Secretary.
Yellen graduated from both Brown and Yale universities and was the first woman to lead the Fed chair after her Senate confirmation in 2014. Her record as the head of the Fed chair saw an improving jobs market and historically low interest rates.
President Donald Trump replaced Yellen with Jerome Powell in 2017.
Yellen is currently working as an economist at the Brookings Institute and has been a San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. She previously served as the Council of Economic Advisers under the Clinton administration.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
If confirmed, Yellen will likely inherit a damaged and broken economy following the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. domestic product fell 31.4% in the second quarter of 2020 and grew to 33.1% in the third quarter.