President Joe Biden's nominee to chair the Council of Economic Advisers could come under scrutiny during his Senate confirmation due to his comments about gas prices being too "low."
The Washington Free Beacon reports that Jared Bernstein, Biden's former economic policy adviser during his time as vice president, has been tapped for the post. It also notes that Bernstein said in 2015 that gas prices were "too damn low" when the average price of gas was $2.09 per gallon, adding at the time that "a gallon's the same price as it was 10 years ago."
Bernstein's comments on fossil fuels and his support for Biden's current economic policies have led Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and other members of the GOP to oppose his appointment. Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., are seen as two of the key moderate votes on the panel needed to confirm Bernstein, but neither senator responded to the Free Beacon's request for comment.
However, Bernstein did win the support of a group of prominent conservative economists. In a letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, almost every living economist who headed the White House Council of Economic Advisers under a Republican administration called on Congress to confirm Bernstein, noting his willingness to engage with economists with differing ideologies.
"I disagree with Jared about a lot, and Jared and I have been disagreeing about things for 20 years," said Kevin Hassett, the former head of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Donald Trump who organized the letter. "But he really is a fundamentally good person who tries to figure things out with an open mind, and who changes his mind."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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