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Bernanke, ex-Fed vice chairs support Clarida as Fed nominee

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other former top economic officials are throwing their support behind Richard Clarida, the nominee to become the Fed's next vice chairman.

Clarida, a PIMCO managing director and economics professor at Columbia University, is getting a nomination hearing May 15 at the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Another of President Donald Trump's nominees to the Fed Board of Governors, Michelle Bowman, will also have her confirmation hearing that day.

Bernanke praised Clarida's expertise in monetary policy in a letter to the panel, joined by former Fed vice chairs Stanley Fischer and Alan Blinder, along with Martin Feldstein, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President Ronald Reagan.

Clarida is one of the country's top scholars on monetary policy, and if confirmed, he would "uphold the Federal Reserve's tradition of independence and nonpartisan policymaking," they wrote in the letter.

"His expertise in monetary issues, together with his thoughtfulness and good judgment, will be invaluable assets to the Federal Open Market Committee and the Federal Reserve System," they wrote.

They also highlighted Clarida's experience in both the public and private sector, noting he was assistant secretary at the Treasury Department under the second Bush administration and was senior staff economist at the CEA under Reagan. Meanwhile, Clarida's time in the private sector will "be useful for making monetary policy" and helping the Fed with its oversight responsibilities, they wrote.

The Fed's Board of Governors currently has four of its seven seats unfilled, including the vice chairman position. The Senate committee has approved economist Marvin Goodfriend's nomination, but the pick has run into trouble in the full Senate.