The White House is reportedly leaning toward appointing Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard to lead the National Economic Council (NEC). The White House is reportedly leaning toward appointing Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard to lead the National Economic Council (NEC).  The White House is seeing more turnover as the Biden Administration enters its third year, with White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain leaving last week.  Klain was replaced by Jeff Zients, a healthcare executive who led the White House's COVID-19 response team early in the Biden administration Current NEC chief Brian Deese is expected to leave the White House imminently. Brainard is an economist who has served as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors since 2014. She was nominated to be the U.S. central bank's vice chair in late 2021 and was confirmed by the Senate last April. Since then, Brainard has expressed largely dovish views on U.S. monetary policy. Zoom Out: The White House reportedly plans to tap economist Jared Bernstein to lead the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Bernstein, who is already a member of the CEA, served as Biden's chief economist during the Obama administration.