Biden turns to experienced hands for White House economics team

Joe Biden plans to announce Cecilia Rouse and Brian Deese to his economics team and Neera Tanden as head of the management and budget office, sources told Axios.

Why is this important: They are experienced hands. The unveiling of a diverse group of advisers can also distract from a selection of Deese to lead the National Economic Council. Some progressives have criticized his work at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm.

Details: Rouse, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, will be appointed chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. If confirmed, she would be the first black woman to lead the organization. She is also the daughter-in-law of the late novelist Toni Morrison.

• Heather Boushey and Jared Bernstein, Biden’s senior economic adviser as vice president, are also expected to complement the CEA.
• Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and former senior advisor to Hillary Clinton, could face difficult confirmation. Republicans meddled with her over the Affordable Care Act, and some progressives blame her for losing Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary.
• Deese is a former senior adviser to President Obama who worked on the auto industry bailout and the Paris climate agreement.

The best jobs are also taken into account:

• Results for American Ben Harris, who served as Biden’s chief economic adviser.
• Bruce Reed, who headed the Home Policy Council under President Bill Clinton and was one of Biden’s vice-presidential chiefs of staff.
• Roger Ferguson, a former vice president of the Fed, who announced his retirement as CEO of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

Between the lines: Rouse’s nomination for a Senate confirmed post could give Biden more political space to pick some of his longtime associates and avoid confirmation fights, after Progressives previously signaled they were opposed to candidates like Deese and Reed.

• The CEA serves as an internal think tank, providing solid economic data to the president. While Trump demoted the chairman from the rank of Cabinet, Biden plans to restore him.
• Rouse and Boushey joined former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to sign a letter in June urging a budget response covering the expected $ 16 trillion output gap expected over the next 10 years.

The bottom line: Putting Rouse on a team with Janet Yellen would add academic weight and real-world experience to negotiations with Congress over the size of relief packages.