Report: Janet Yellen to Remain Treasury Head at Biden’s Request as Fight over Debt Ceiling Nears

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is to remain as head of the department, which she reportedly agreed to do at the request of President Joe Biden, according to a report from Bloomberg.

White House officials familiar with the details told Bloomberg that Biden asked for her to stay in the role in mid-December, according to one official, as the president is preparing to have turnovers throughout his Cabinet.

This comes as questions arose about how long Yellen would stay in the Biden administration and a potential fight is brewing in the Republican-controlled U.S. House over the looming debt ceiling and the threat of a possible recession, Bloomberg noted. Ultimately, Yellen staying means she will be in the administration when there likely will be a fight over the debt ceiling.

A previous Bloomberg report from September stated that the treasury secretary was planning to stay in the position “well after” the midterms, even though the White House was preparing for there to be potential Cabinet-level departure, as well as of senior personnel. Then, in November, after the midterms, Yellen told NBC News’s Peter Alexander that she was expecting to stay “the duration” of the Biden presidential term.

Treasury officials declined to give Bloomberg a comment on the matter.

Bloomberg added:

The move also gives Yellen more time to see through some of her key priorities, including a revamp of the Internal Revenue Service, reforms at the World Bank and adding pressure on Russia over its Ukraine war via sanctions and the oil price cap.

…

Biden’s request that she stay also puts to rest chatter that the White House had been seeking to appoint Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to lead the Treasury Department, which was seen as a move to elevate a Democratic rising star to a top-tier cabinet post.

Last year, Yellen faced criticism for downplaying the skyrocketing inflation. In fact, during an interview on CNN in May, she admitted that she “was wrong” about inflation. She also added that “unanticipated and large shocks to the economy” had “boosted energy and food prices” and that she “didn’t fully understand” supply bottlenecks that have hurt the economy.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.