Brainard vows to help combat inflation as No. 2 Fed official

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lael Brainard pledged in written remarks Wednesday to help the Federal Reserve fight a spike in inflation while still supporting the economic recovery — a tricky balancing act she would face if confirmed as the Fed's No. 2 official.

Brainard, a member of the central bank's Board of Governors, was nominated for the vice chair post in late November by President Joe Biden, the same day that Biden nominated Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as chair. As a Fed governor since 2014, Brainard has voted on the central bank's interest-rate decisions at its eight policymaking meetings each year as well as on its financial regulatory policies.

“Our monetary policy is focused on getting inflation back down to 2% while sustaining a recovery that includes everyone,” Brainard said in remarks prepared for delivery Thursday to the Senate Banking Committee, which is expected to back her nomination in the coming weeks before the full Senate confirms it. “This is our most important task.”

Brainard's elevation of inflation-fighting as the Fed's top goal is notable given that she is, for now, the lone Democrat on the Fed's board and is seen as more inclined to keeping interest rates low to boost employment than many other Fed officials are. Biden is expected soon to nominate three more people to fill vacancies on the board.

On Wednesday, the government reported that inflation spiked to 7% in December from a year earlier, the sharpest such increase in four decades. Brainard will face questioning from senators about how the Fed will rein in rising prices, as Powell did at his own Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday. The Fed is tasked by Congress with keeping prices stable and fostering "maximum employment."

In his testimony, Powell pledged that the Fed would...