President-elect Joe Biden will choose Janet Yellen, former chair of the federal reserve, as his Secretary of the Treasury, according to a source with knowledge of the pick.
Responding to CNN’s reporting about Biden’s pick for the role, Jen Psaki, a senior adviser for the transition team, said Biden looks "forward to announcing some members of his economic team early next week who will work with him to build the economy back better."
Yellen, who will be the first woman to hold the job should she be confirmed by the Senate, will be tasked to lead Biden's economic response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the economy and led millions of Americans to lose their jobs.
She will also be asked to make good on the former vice president's campaign promise to narrow the economic divide between rich and poor in the United States.
Yellen, after a long career in academia and different federal reserve roles, was nominated by President Barack Obama to become chair of the Federal Reserve — the first woman to hold the position — in a role she filled from 2014 to 2018.
President Trump opted not to renominate Yellen during his first year in office, instead nominating Jerome Powell to take the top job.
Biden had said that his pick to be Treasury secretary would attract broad support from different corners of the Democratic Party.
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