Larry Summers Advising Biden Campaign on Economic Recovery
- Economist at top of progressives’ ‘do not appoint’ list
- Summers widely believed to want to be Federal Reserve Chairman
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is advising Joe Biden’s presidential campaign on economic policy, including its plans to revive the U.S. economy after the coronavirus pandemic, according to five people familiar with his involvement.
The Obama and Clinton administration veteran’s role roiled progressives who view his past work on the 2009 recovery as too favorable to big banks. That’s awkward for the Biden campaign at a time when it is trying to win the trust of former supporters of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Two Sanders-aligned groups, Justice Democrats and Sunrise Movement, said Friday they “hope Biden publicly rejects Summers’s role as an economic adviser to better earn the trust of our generation.” They said they also plan to start a petition calling on Biden to pledge to exclude Summers from his transition team or administration.