FED FIGHT.

• Position: United States. Federal Reserve Board - Brief Article

Who would have thought that filling two vacancies on the Federal Reserve's Board of governors would take so long and involve so much political intrigue? The seven-member board has had only five members since July 1999, when Alice Rivlin resigned. But President Clinton's attempts to fill the Rivlin seat and a seat vacated by Susan Phillips in June 1998 were thwarted by the Republican-controll Senate. GOP leaders told the White House they wouldn't confirm any Clinton nominees; they preferred to wait and let the next president decide the matter.

Now that Republican George W. Bush is President, the selection of two Fed governors should have gone smoothly, right? Well, it turns out that the White House, in fighting over the choices, produced more delay. Bush's chief economics adviser, Larry Lindsey, wanted to take charge of the selection process to make sure the President named high-powered economists who could check Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's...