Brainard’s Nomination Promotes a Close Powell Ally on Recent Fed Innovations

President Biden’s decision to nominate Lael Brainard to become Federal Reserve vice chairwoman elevates a veteran policy maker and economist who has been a strong ally of Chairman Jerome Powell on the central bank’s boldest policy decisions during the pandemic.

Ms. Brainard was a key adviser to Mr. Powell as the Fed scaled up emergency-lending backstops last year, and she provided influential intellectual support for his effort last year to revamp the Fed’s policy-setting framework. Under the new framework, the Fed set aside its practice of raising rates to pre-empt inflationary pressures and pledged to keep interest rates low to foster a faster and broader labor-market recovery.