At the time, the finalists were thought to be Powell, Yellen and John Taylor, a Stanford University economist. In Powell, Trump would be selecting a policymaker with a reputation as a moderate whose stance on interest rate increases would likely deviate little from Yellen's cautious approach. Powell, who has been on the Fed board for five years, has been a reliable ally in Yellen's go-slow policy on rate increases. Many conservative members of Congress had been pushing Trump to select Taylor, rather than Powell, for Fed chairman. Some Fed watchers had speculated that Trump might try to install both Powell and Taylor — one as Fed chair, the other as vice chair, a spot that is also open.

Source: ABC News October 30, 2017 16:52 UTC