Three Things to Watch for at the Confirmation Hearing for Trump’s Fed Nominee

President Trump’s campaign to bring the Federal Reserve under tighter White House control faces a major test Thursday when the Senate weighs confirming Stephen Miran , a senior White House economic adviser, to the central bank’s board of governors.

The Senate Banking Committee hearing will for the first time force GOP senators to balance their past support for Fed independence against their reluctance to cross Trump. The president has attempted to fire one Fed governor and publicly berated the central bank for not lowering rates.

At a cabinet meeting last week, the president highlighted his desire to more directly influence interest-rate policy, including with Miran’s confirmation. »We’ll have a majority, very shortly,« Trump said.

The president has said high interest rates are unnecessarily raising federal borrowing costs, which adds to large budget deficits. Fed officials have been reluctant to lower rates aggressively when businesses are figuring out whether they can raise prices to avoid a cost squeeze from tariffs.

Vice President JD Vance last week suggested the Fed’s traditional independence from White House control was »a little preposterous« and »anti-democratic.« In an interview with USA Today, he said Trump was »much better able« than Fed »bureaucrats« to decide how rates should be set.

The push has been underscored by Trump’s attempt last week to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud —the first time any president has tried to remove a Fed governor. Cook is challenging her removal in federal court, and her lawyers said in a filing Tuesday that she had never committed mortgage fraud.

The attempted firing signals the White House’s willingness to erode decades-old norms that grant Fed officials autonomy to set interest rates as they deem necessary to balance low inflation with healthy labor markets.

The confirmation of Miran, who is currently chairman of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers , isn’t really in doubt. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority. They confirmed him along party lines to his current post in March. And no Republicans have voiced opposition to his most recent nomination.

But White House officials are seeking an unusually speedy timeline, as they want Miran confirmed before the Fed’s next rate-setting meeting on Sept. 16-17. In Trump’s first term, it took months for his Fed nominees to move through the confirmation process.

Here are three things to watch at Thursday’s hearing, which begins at 10 a.m. ET.

1. Whether Republicans are willing to publicly defend the Fed’s traditional independence or signal acceptance of Trump’s norm-busting approach to monetary policy.

Three Republicans on the banking committee— Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and John Kennedy of Louisiana—have been more supportive of Fed independence in setting monetary policy or Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s leadership than other GOP colleagues.

Tillis indicated he was prepared to support Miran’s nomination on Wednesday, but he told reporters, »I have no interest in moves that would make the Fed really come under direct control of the executive branch. I don’t think it makes sense.« In separate comments, he indicated he wouldn’t support filling Cook’s seat until courts have ruled on whether Trump had the authority to dismiss her, according to Politico.

Republicans likely need unanimous support on the banking committee, where they have a 13-11 majority, to advance the president’s picks if all Democrats vote against them.

2. How Miran explains his views on Fed independence given his past calls for greater presidential control over monetary policy.

Miran pledged to preserve the independence of the Fed and uphold the central bank’s congressional mandate to seek low inflation and healthy labor markets in remarks prepared for delivery at Thursday’s hearing.

»In my view, the most important job of the central bank is to prevent Depressions and hyperinflations. Independence of monetary policy is a critical element for its success,« he said, according to a copy of the remarks made available by the banking committee on Wednesday.

In a paper last year, Miran argued that the Fed could be better insulated from day-to-day political pressures if Fed officials could more easily be replaced by the president. Along with a co-author, Daniel Katz, who is now chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent , Miran also called for prohibiting Fed board members from serving in the executive branch for four years following their Fed term.

»Short-circuiting the revolving door between the Fed and the executive branch is critical to reducing the incentives for officials to act in the short-term political interests of the president,« they wrote.

One open question is whether Miran plans to vacate his current position at the White House upon his expected confirmation to the Fed’s board. White House officials have contemplated an unusual arrangement in which Miran might be able to return to his Senate-confirmed CEA post early next year after his Fed service ends in January, according to people familiar with the matter.

3. How Miran reconciles the president’s desire for lower interest rates with his previous warnings about inflation risks.

Last fall, Miran railed against the Fed’s decision to begin lowering interest rates from a two-decade high, saying Fed officials weren’t serious about bringing inflation down to their 2% goal.

»I can’t think of anything more ‘Deep State’ and corrosive of our democracy than democratically unremovable officials at the Federal Reserve tacitly accepting permanently higher inflation in spite of Congress’ delegated instructions for ‘stable prices,’« he wrote on his social-media account last September. He later said the post was »phrased hyperbolically.«

Miran said at the time he was so confused by the Fed’s actions, coming nearly two months before the presidential election, that he couldn’t help but conclude they were motivated by politics—a charge that Powell and most of his colleagues categorically reject.

Even though the Fed’s preferred inflation gauges are running slightly higher than they were at this time last year, Miran has said he no longer thinks inflation is a worry.

Miran has said his views about trade-offs in managing inflation haven’t changed. Instead, he has said the president’s policies—including to cut taxes, reduce immigration and deregulate businesses—are likely to unleash noninflationary economic growth.

Write to Nick Timiraos at Nick.Timiraos@wsj.com