FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is considering picking long-time supporter Stephen Moore to be a governor at the Federal Reserve Board, Bloomberg News reported.
Moore, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, helped write Trump’s signature tax plan. The position would give him a vote at the policy-setting table of an institution whose interest-rate hikes last year were a frequent target of Trump’s ire.
Trump was so incensed by the Fed’s policies he is said to have sought advice late last year on whether he could fire its chairman, Jerome Powell.
The Bloomberg News report, by a White House reporter and a colleague who covers the Treasury Department, cited people familiar with the matter whom they did not name.
A Fed spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters made outside of business hours Thursday.
There are two open positions on the Fed’s seven-seat Board of Governors.
The White House is also continuing to consider one-time presidential candidate and pizza chain magnate Herman Cain for a spot, Bloomberg News said, despite concerns that the accusations of sexual harassment that derailed Cain’s bid for president could complicate his Senate confirmation.
Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Kim Coghill