After Manchin drama, Senate confirms Biden chief economist

Senate Democrats on Tuesday confirmed Jared Bernstein as the White House's chief economist, despite opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Republicans.

The Senate approved the long-time confidant of President Joe Biden to chair the Council of Economic Advisers in a 50-49 vote.

After Manchin revealed he would vote against Bernstein earlier Tuesday, Senate Democrats had a brief scare over whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be needed to break a tie on his confirmation. But the absence of Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) allowed the liberal-leaning economist to make it through without her help.

Bernstein — unlike his CEA predecessor Cecilia Rouse — faced major opposition from senators who sought to rebuke Biden’s handling of the economy.

“Mr. Bernstein’s economic philosophy is problematic as he has shown a willingness to disregard the need for all-of-the-above energy policies and necessary federal budget cuts to alleviate the skyrocketing cost of living for working families,” Manchin said in a statement. “I did not vote for Mr. Bernstein because we must protect America’s economic stability and energy security from radical policies such as the Green New Deal.”

Bernstein is set to take the helm of the CEA at a pivotal moment for Biden and the economy. With the Federal Reserve weighing its options against inflation in the face of a hot labor market, he will be responsible for steering the White House’s reaction to a potential downturn — just as Biden makes a bid for another four years in office.

Republicans have battered Bernstein for his role advancing Biden-backed spending bills that pumped fiscal stimulus into the economy as inflation took root. They’ve also sought to characterize his stances on energy and tax policy — including his call to raise estate taxes on wealthy families — as the work of a progressive advocate rather than a seasoned economist. The Senate Banking Committee narrowly approved Bernstein’s nomination in May.

It’s in contrast to Biden’s first CEA chair, Rouse, who received a bipartisan 95-4 confirmation vote. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) supported Bernstein in committee but ratcheted up the drama Tuesday when they declined to say before a procedural vote whether they planned to back him on the floor. They ended up voting to confirm Bernstein.

Bernstein, who holds a Ph.D. in social welfare from Columbia University, was a musician and social worker in New York City before moving to Washington in the early 1990s to join the Economic Policy Institute. He was later tapped to be the deputy chief economist at the Labor Department under former Secretary Robert Reich during former President Bill Clinton’s second term.

During the Obama administration, he led Biden’s economic policy team and was executive director of a White House task force on middle class living standards. He later worked with Republican economists on early drafts of opportunity zone legislation that was signed into law by former President Donald Trump in the 2017 tax bill.

Bernstein’s background as a labor market specialist focused on income inequality shaped White House policies designed to bring manufacturing on shore.

Former Republican CEA chairs have endorsed Bernstein’s nomination. Among them: Trump appointees Kevin Hassett, Tomas Philipson and Tyler Goodspeed.

“This is the president’s choice; he’s very qualified,” Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said in an interview. Republicans fighting the nomination “just want to be partisan here, when we never have in the past.”