Bernstein, Biden's chief economist pick, big backer of 'worker power'

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he would nominate trusted confidante and long-time economic adviser Jared Bernstein to head the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), part of a shakeup ahead of an expected 2024 campaign.

Bernstein, 68, is one of three senior economists on the council and has worked in Democratic administrations for decades. He frequently explains Biden policy on television, making him a familiar and safe choice, given he needs to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The current chair, Cecilia Rouse, heads back to Princeton University in March, after helping steer the U.S. economy through high inflation to record jobs growth. Americans remain unimpressed by Biden's economic performance, with prices of basic goods and mortgage rates remaining high.

Republicans are expected to grill Bernstein during his confirmation hearing over inflation and Biden's proposed billionaire tax.

Bernstein, who played in jazz bands and worked as a social worker in New York City before getting a doctorate, has long supported progressive economic policy. He served in former President Bill Clinton's Labor Department and then as Biden's chief economist when Biden was vice president.

At the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington think tank, he wrote and testified to Congress on the shrinking U.S. middle class, a bedrock Biden theme.

Bernstein's varied government experience prepares him for implementing trillions of dollars of spending on infrastructure, manufacturing and green tax credits passed in three signature bills last year, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said.

"He has a terrific understanding of the nuts and bolts of all that," said Reich, who previously worked with Bernstein.

U.S. business groups worry that Bernstein's labor ties and skepticism about free trade deals could hamper bolstering international trade ties.

"He represents the status quo which is not to have a robust trade promotion agenda or more free trade agreements," said Doug Barry, former spokeperson for the U.S.-China Business Council.

'WORKER POWER'

While administration officials are sensitive to the optics of replacing Rouse, the first Black American to head the CEA, with a white man, they point to the diversity of Biden's team and his decision to name Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard, a white woman, to head the National Economic Council, along with Labor Department economist Joelle Gamble, a Black woman, as one of her deputies.

EPI president Heidi Shierholz said Bernstein spent decades "fighting for worker power," but lack of diversity at the CEA was a concern and reflected problems in the field of economics.

"It's a huge problem and you can see it playing out with the Biden administration team, but I do think Bernstein and Brainard are both well-positioned to support the agenda, which is about racial and economic justice."

Bernstein's longstanding ties with Biden will be critical given the challenging times ahead, said Ed Gresser, vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute.

"What's important at this juncture is that the people in the administration have the ability to speak truth to power, and have a vision of what's coming over the year," said Gresser.

Progressive groups and labor unions back Bernstein and his confirmation by a simple majority in the Democratic-controlled Senate is not in doubt, according to Senate aides.

During last week's event, Bernstein called Biden's COVID-19 recovery plan with big fiscal injections and aggressive vaccination drive "a success story" that helped avert deeper economic scarring and create 12 million jobs.

But he conceded that the administration's initial use of the word "transitory" to describe inflation was ambiguous and said ongoing uncertainty required "the spirit of humility."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Heather Timmons and Nick Macfie)