Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
Hot seats: Donald Trump nominated Council of Economic Advisers chairman Stephen Miran as a temporary Federal Reserve governor while advisers eyed Christopher Waller as a top contender to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair. Miran is only expected to serve a term that expires in January, while the search for a permanent replacement continues, Trump said. Meanwhile, Waller is emerging as a top candidate to serve as the central bank’s chair among Trump’s advisers, who are also considering Kevin Warsh and Kevin Hassett, Bloomberg reported. Trump’s team is reportedly satisfied with Waller’s approach to move on policy based on forecasting, rather than on current data, as well as his deep knowledge of the Fed system, Bloomberg reports. Last week Waller was one of two Federal Reserve board members to vote against the central bank’s decision to hold rates steady for a fifth time running, preferring a quarter-point reduction. (Bloomberg)(Bloomberg)(Capital Brief)(Donald Trump)
2.
China Intel: Trump called on the CEO of Intel, Lip-Bu Tan, to resign over his previous ties to China. “The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem,” Trump posted on Thursday. The comments follow an open letter to the Intel board written by Republican Senator Tom Cotton on Tuesday, which questioned Tan’s ties to the Chinese government, including apparent connections to the country’s military and investments in other semiconductor companies. Responding to the senator's report, Intel defended Tan and dismissed the suggestions that the company posed a threat to US national security. The company had not commented on Trump’s demands. Meanwhile, the US General Services Administration announced that Amazon Web Services will provide US government agencies with as much as USD1 billion ($1.54 billion) in savings for cloud adoption, modernisation and training over the next three years. (Capital Brief)(WSJ)(Reuters)(FT)(Bloomberg)(GSA)
