Yellen says ‘there is no such thing as a reality’ to report she’s leaving company after midterms

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen denied Tuesday an unconfirmed report that President Joe Biden would exchange her after the November midterm elections, saying she plans to remain on as head of the company.

Yellen, who spoke on a panel interview in the course of the Treasury’s annual Freedman’s Financial institution Discussion board in Washington, curtly shut down hypothesis about her exit.

“There isn’t any reality to that,” Yellen advised moderator and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart.

Republicans have been calling for Yellen’s resignation or firing since she admitted in a June interview that she was fallacious in regards to the course inflation would take. Information outlet Axios then reported final month that the White Home was quietly exploring her alternative. An administration official reportedly advised the outlet that the end result of the midterm elections determines whether or not Yellen stays.

Dismissing Yellen would possibly give Biden the chance to quell public concern about his financial insurance policies, in line with Axios. However Yellen has traveled the nation selling the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Discount Act as the foremost tenets of the financial restoration.

Yellen’s hypothetical departure would additionally trigger political strife if Republicans flip the Senate, thereby complicating a clean transition towards confirming a successor.

White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre advised reporters final month that whereas the Biden administration is “prudently planning for potential transitions, post-midterm elections, neither Secretary Yellen or Brian Deese are a part of these plans.”

Brian Deese is the director of the White Home Nationwide Financial Council.

Jean-Pierre additionally confirmed that Cecelia Rouse, chair of the White Home Council of Financial Advisers, will step down in 2023. Rouse shared the panel Tuesday with Yellen.

Requests for remark from the White Home Nationwide Financial Council and the Council of Financial Advisers weren’t answered on the time of publication.