Who Is Derek Kan? White House Is Considering Him for Fed Reserve Board

The White House is considering Derek Kan, an undersecretary at the Department of Transportation, for one of two open seats on the Federal Reserve Board, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Kan, who has been a senior adviser to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao since 2017, has served on the board of directors for Amtrak and was previously general manager of ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. He earned his MBA from Stanford University and studied economic history at the London School of Economics, according to a profile on the Department of Transportation website.President Donald Trump has struggled to find candidates for the Fed that are acceptable to the senators who vote to confirm them. Trump has named four people for the two open seats on the board of governors. None of them has made it through the Senate, raising questions about the White House vetting process for his picks.

According to the Transportation Department, Kan coordinates budget and policy development for Chao. Earlier in his career, he was an adviser to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and was chief economist for the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

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