President-elect Biden unveils his economic team, pledges that ‘help is on the way’

WILMINGTON, Delaware — President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday introduced top advisers he said will help his administration rebuild an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, declaring, “I know times are tough, but I want you to know that help is on the way.”

Biden said he’d chosen a “first-rate team” that is “tested and experienced” to tackle the country’s economic crisis. He picked liberal advisers who have long prioritized the nation’s workers and government efforts to address economic inequality.

Biden announced several economic nominees who would make history if confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The economic team includes: Janet Yellen, who would be the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary; Adewale "Wally" Adeyemo, who would be the first Black deputy Treasury secretary; Cecilia Rouse, who would be the first woman of color to chair the Council of Economic Advisers; and Neera Tanden, who would be the first woman of color and first South Asian American to become director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Biden also announced his plans to appoint Jared Bernstein, a longtime economic adviser to the President-elect, and Heather Boushey, one of his chief economic policy advisers during the campaign, as members of the Council of Economic Advisers. Bernstein and Boushey do not need Senate confirmation.

Biden has moved quickly to build out his administration and name a diverse group of key White House senior advisers and Cabinet posts. The President-elect has long pledged to shape an administration that looks like and reflects the diversity of the country.

Yellen already made history as the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve. She also previously served for four years as the vice chair of the board, and president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for four years prior to that. Yellen was also chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 1997 to 1999.

Yellen called the economic havoc the pandemic has wrought “an American tragedy.”

“To the American people: We will be an institution that wakes up every morning thinking about you,” Yellen said of the Treasury Department, “Your jobs, your paychecks, your struggles, your hopes, your dignity and your limitless potential.”

Adeyemo currently serves as the president of the Obama Foundation. He served in many roles during the Obama administration, including the President's senior international economic adviser, deputy national security adviser, deputy director of the National Economic Council, the first chief of staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and senior adviser and deputy chief of staff at the Department of the Treasury.

Tanden is the CEO and president of the left-leaning Center for American Progress and the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Tanden previously served as a senior adviser for health reform at the US Department of Health and Human Services. She was the director of domestic policy for the Obama campaign, and served as policy director for Hillary Clinton's first presidential campaign. The announcement of Tanden sparked more outrage than any nominee has so far, with progressive Democrats and Republicans expressing opposition.

Rouse has served as the dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, as well as a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University. She previously served as a member of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, and also worked at the National Economic Council in the Clinton administration as a special assistant to the president.

Boushey has been one of Biden's chief economic policy advisers during the campaign and was named as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. Boushey is a longtime economic counselor to Biden and currently serves as president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a nonprofit she cofounded in 2013.

Bernstein is a longtime economic adviser to Biden and was named as a member of the Council of Economic Advisers. Bernstein previously served as the executive director of the White House task force on the middle class and as an economic adviser to President Barack Obama. He was also the deputy chief economist at the Department of Labor under President Bill Clinton.

As he did frequently while campaigning, Biden promised that the U.S. would eventually emerge with an economy that is dramatically reshaped to better stamp out economic inequality.

“From the most unequal economic and job crisis in modern history, we can build a new American economy that works for all Americans, not just some,” Biden said.