Bloomberg
Stephen Moore, visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, listens during a Bloomberg Television interview.
President Donald Trump’s embattled Federal Reserve nominee, Stephen Moore, predicted Tuesday that he will win Senate confirmation, even as some Republican members of the upper chamber of Congress said they’re reluctant to support him.
Asked on CNBC Tuesday morning if he would end up on the Fed, Moore replied: “I think I’m going to be on the Fed.”
In his interview, Moore also dismissed suggestions the White House was getting cold feet on his nomination, saying the president and his economic team “are totally behind me on this.”
Later, top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway told reporters that the president does indeed stand behind Moore.
Senate Republicans, returning to Washington from a two-week break, seemed lukewarm at best about Trump’s pick.
Trump has yet to formally send Moore’s nomination to the Senate.
Sen. Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, who was a past chair of the Banking Committee, the panel that would review the nomination, told the Washington Examiner there was a “drip-by-drip" aspect to the discussion about Moore that was not helping his cause.
Moore has faced a steady stream of negative press reports since his name was first floated, including his fight with the Internal Revenue Service over back taxes, and more recently his writing expressing concern about the growing role of women in society.
The president’s other selection for the Fed, Herman Cain, eventually dropped out of the running, in the face of opposition from some Republican senators.
On Monday, Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, and a member of the GOP leadership, told reporters she was “not enthused” about supporting Moore. She earlier called Moore’s writing on women “ridiculous.”
See: Republican Sen. Joni Ernst expresses doubts on Stephen Moore
On Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Moore would be a “problematic nomination” according to several reports.
This is big: Sen. Lindsey Graham, a usual ally of Trump, says Stephen Moore would be a “problematic nomination” for Fed
Sen Collins expresses “concern” on Moore’s comments on women and his commitment to Fed independence #Fed
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) April 30, 2019
Moore said some of his writing about women has been taken out of context.
“The biggest problem I see in the economy over the last 25 years...has been the steady decline in male earnings. I think that has very negative consequences for the economy and society,” he said.
