WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says she “absolutely” intends to serve out her four-year term as head of the central bank but she hasn’t given thought to whether she would accept a second term if President Donald Trump asked her to do so.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, noted that all three of Yellen’s recent predecessors, Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, were first nominated by a president of one party and re-nominated by a president of another party.
“There is a long history of presidents re-nominating Fed chairs that their predecessors originally named,” she said, asking Yellen if she was “open to serving another four years” if asked to do so by Trump.
Yellen, as she has done in the past, chose to dodge the question.
While declaring her intention to serve out her current term, which ends in early February, she said, “I haven’t given further thought” to the question of serving for another four years.
This is the correct answer. If there is any justice in the world, Trump will no longer be President next February (hey, I can dream, can’t I?) and she will have to worry about being re-nominated by his replacement. I suspect the GOP has a long list of unqualified candidates from which to choose.
What is she has already experienced pressure from the Trumpistas? Maybe she doesn’t want more and intends to quit instead.