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WASHINGTON, June 14 (AP) — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday narrowly confirmed Jared Bernstein as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
A longtime aide to President Joe Biden and a worker-focused economist, Bernstein was confirmed in a 50-49 vote.
Republican lawmakers criticized his claim early in the administration that the high inflation brought on by the pandemic was temporary. Rising costs for households and businesses have been a challenge for Biden, even as the Labor Department said on Tuesday that inflation fell to 4% in May, the lowest 12-month reading on the consumer price index in more than 12 years.
The Biden administration has provided $1.9 trillion in pandemic relief in 2021, which some economists and Republican leaders say is stoking inflation.
Bernstein, who was on the Council of Economic Advisers at the time, defended the president’s job gains from government spending and said the high prices would be “temporary.”
But by July 2022, he dropped the “provisional” wording because it “created a level of ambiguity that did not serve the debate well”.
Bernstein, 67, was promoted to chairman, succeeding Cecilia Rouse, who returned to Princeton earlier this year. Bernstein has long been close to Biden and served as Biden’s assistant to the vice president during the Obama administration.
Bernstein earned a doctorate in social welfare from Columbia University.
Established in 1946, the Council of Economic Advisors provides guidance to the President on economic trends and government policy. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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